Flying On Broken Wings
by Shori Musei
Summary: YAOI During a mid-war raid, Malik and Ryou are captured and taken to a place they wish they never knew existed. Can Bakura and Marik save them before they die? And what is The Changing? BxR MxM Jx? TTxDD, more! No OCs
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
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Blood rained down from the sky in subtle commemoration of the soldiers who had given up their lives in battle. The ground was still moist with the sweat and tears of those still living, those still dying, the corpses still bleeding. All throughout the town, bodies lay scattered haphazardly as they began to decompose. The smell of death was far more than prevalent, spinning up as whirlwinds into the mournful skies above. Elderly couples clung to eachother in the dark hours, as the younger couples hid tight in eachother's arms for safety.  
  
But in truth, nothing was safe. The tanks of enemy soldiers never ceased their treacherous rampage of the town. All day, every day, tanks, and cars, and horses, and even motorcycles stationed with soldiers drove down the streets. Each time the enemy forces did their rounds, ten more people were taken from their homes and loved ones. Just the day before, two boys, one aged sixteen and the other aged eleven, were taken from one of the wealthier orphanages. Before that, another two people, a brother and sister, went missing from the poorer area of town. No one was safe from the harsh reality of war.  
  
The people captured would have been better off dead, as they rode in a large iron car with no windows and their hands shackled together. The air was tight, making it hard for the calm people to breathe and even harder for the more nervous passengers. Most of the people taken were to be killed, but a select few, perhaps around ten people, were shipped off to a refinery to become part of a madman's dream come true. ¹  
  
The man's name was Pegasus J. Crawford, a big name in the gaming industry and an even bigger name among scientists. Upon graduation from a prestigious university in the Americas, however, he began to wonder what would happen if someone tried to create a new being- something he liked to call an Animan, or animal-human. Pegasus J. Crawford spent the next ten years experimenting different ways to fuse the two species together. One night, just after the New Year's of his eleventh year in research, he made a breakthrough in Animan research. He discovered that if he were to use the correct amount of metal and wiring in his creations, the chance of survival among his experiments would jump from 2% to 20%, results that made him determined to test out his theories on people world wide.  
  
And that's what lead Pegasus J. Crawford to the small town of Chiisai, Japan.² He figured that if he were to keep the people quiet in a region of the world that no one really knew about, then no one with any form of political influence or power could stop him from carrying out his dream of playing God.  
  
So, for the past month and a half, the people of Chiisai were plagued with fear and worry that they would be next; horror and disgust at what was happening to their fellow townspeople, and what might soon be happening to them.  
  
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1 - I don't like Pegasus.  
  
2 - Chiisai is Japanese for small. I know it's not a real city, but this fanfiction is a mild AU, so please bear with me.  
  
YuGiOh is © Kazuki Takahashi and other people. I do not claim to own anything or anyone except the plot. If you have used or have seen a plot like this used before, I apologize. I do not intend to copy other people's ideas. I don't check the YuGiOh section that much anymore so I don't know all of what's in there. 


	2. Home is a Faraway Place

Chapter One  
  
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The sky was dark and dreary as the military tank holding the newest batch of detainees rolled into the Crawford Animangenics Research Lab. A rustle of life sparked into the car of desolate people that were inside as they finally snapped out of their trances. One of the passengers, a pale boy with soft white hair and deep brown eyes, clung tightly to the person beside him, a dark-skinned, amethyst-eyed Egyptian boy with light blonde hair that cascaded down his shoulders. As soon as the doors in the back of the tank were opened, the silver-haired whimpered and turned away from the light. The boy he was sitting next to quietly wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  
  
"Out! All of you. You're to meet Mr. Pegasus Crawford and then you'll be put in your cells, two per cell." The speaker was a tall, shadowed man in a uniform. In his muscular tan arms, a large air rifle was pointed into the tank.  
  
With a low growl, one of the boys towards the back stood and walked slowly towards the front of the car, uncaring, as he became the new target of the rifle. The boy, seventeen-year-old Tristan Taylor, glared harshly at the uniformed soldier. "Look, you goddamn freak! You can't keep us here like we're a bunch of animals! We're human beings! Just like you used to be! We're humans! Not your freak science experiments!"  
  
The man shot a bullet whizzing just past Tristan's right ear. "Sit down, Project! Our creations don't disrespect their gods!"  
  
"Gods?!" A second voice called out from the back, somewhere behind Tristan. "You are not our gods! You're nothing but a bunch of little boys, upset 'cause your momma took away your toys!"  
  
"QUIET!" The gun fired again, and this time, the bullet lodged itself in the boy's shoulder. Duke Devlin's eyes closed and pinched close together in pain as he gripped onto his shoulder. The blood trickled through his fingers, but he glared and pulled himself back to his feet.  
  
His harsh jade eyes met those of the uniformed officer, Nigiru Nikumareru, and he spat at him through his teeth. "Come on, don't tell me that's your best shot. You barely even touched me." Duke reluctantly let go of his injured shoulder and stood with his feet spread apart and his arms up to the sky. "Here. Go right ahead and shoot me. I'd rather die than be part of your motherfucking experiments!"  
  
Nigiru scoffed and lowered his weapon. "As much as I'd love to shoot that smirk right off your face, pretty boy, I wouldn't want to bang you up too badly. I'm sure Mr. Pegasus has something special in mind for you."  
  
Duke humphed as he brushed past Nigiru. "Yeah, bullshit. You're just afraid to shoot me."  
  
"Out. All of you."  
  
Ryou, the silver-haired, glanced worriedly at Malik.

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Tristan stood close by to Duke, hazel eyes sharp and wary, as he and the other new 'shipments' were escorted to the main lobby of C.A.R.L, as Pegasus had dubbed the Center. Extravagent decorations in the colors of pink, white, pale green, and sky blue lined the ceilings of the hallways. Duke noticed with an arched eyebrow that this Pegasus man, whoever he was, had asphyxiation with Funny Bunny and other cartoons. Honorary statues of cartoon greats such as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, and Foghorn Leghorn decorated the columns. At the very end of the hallway was a large, circular room. A portrait of a man with straight, platinum silver hair hanging down to his shoulders greeted the new arrivals. Cunning honey eyes peered at the group as if they knew each person's greatest weakness.  
  
"Welcome, people of Chiisai! When I read your name from the list, please step forward to receive your nametag and ID number. Before your surgery to turn you into an Animan, we will monitor your behavior to see which animal suits you best. During your transformation, you will retain your same mind and personality. You'll just be getting a... _permanent _makeover. What do you say? Doesn't that sound fun?"  
  
A voice boomed from unseen speakers in a rich, drawling tone. Everyone looked around as the person, obviously Pegasus, spoke. No one even resembling the portrait was spotted.  
  
Tristan humphed and whispered in Duke's ear, "Yeah, it's a barrel of monkeys."  
  
"I'd be careful what you say, T-boy. I can hear everything you say." Smirked Pegasus.  
  
Tristan glared up at the ceiling. Duke watched Tristan's face and sighed through pursed lips.  
  
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"Ryou Bakura."  
  
The silver-haired boy looked up from the ground, fear shining in his soulful brown eyes. Timidly, he let go of Malik's arm and stepped forward from the group of five people. He stood at almost 5'7", thin, and very pale. He was shaking slightly as he approached a table with a middle-aged woman wearing a sickeningly false smile.  
  
"Hello, Ryou Bakura. My name is Cecelia; I'm Pegasus' wife. Aren't you excited to be part of my darling husband's dreams?" She handed Ryou Bakura a package of clothing and a chain with an ID number that read '00006.' Above his ID number was his name in big, bolded black letters. Ryou gave her a look of suspicion mixed with terror before he took his package and moved back into the line.  
  
"Duke Devlin."  
  
With a glare and humph, Duke pushed past Tristan and a brunette girl, anger present in his dark green eyes. As he walked over to Cecelia, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a die. He bounced the die up and down in his hand as he approached the blonde woman, a confident smirk on his thin lips. He laughed softly, extended his hand and grabbed his package numbered '00007.' He smiled slyly at her from behind thick black bangs. "Darling husband, eh? If he's darling, what are you? Deranged?" Duke winked malevolently at her as he turned around and went back to the others, still bouncing the die, ignoring the searing pain in his injured shoulder.  
  
"Téa Gardener."  
  
This time, a girl around fifteen made her way to the front. Her rich chocolate hair fell apprehensively to her shoulders, her usually bright sapphire eyes darkened with unease. Téa's walk was one of false confidence, as she snagged her '00008' package out from underneath Cecelia's nose. She frowned genuinely as her gait carried her to stand next to Duke; she missed her family and friends dearly. The other people that she had been taken with didn't seem to be too bad, but Téa just wanted to go back to her house with her warm bed and dream.  
  
"Malik Ishtar."  
  
There was a rustle of clothing, and Malik took a step forward. He kept his cautious amethyst eyes on Cecelia as he took each step, his golden arm bands glistening under the sunlight that filtered in through the roof. As he took his package, he sneered dissapprovingly at the picture of Pegasus J. Crawford, giving the man a mental slap across the face. Malik had already put himself on a higher level than that of this sick minded freak, as he stared down the painting as if it were slave number '00009' about to be killed, and he was the master holding the knife.  
  
"Mai Valentine."  
  
"I can't believe how sick some people are! Can't you see you're destroying beauty in an attempt to create your own twisted perception of it?" Everyone turned to cast a mild glare at the tall blonde girl who had her perfectly manicured hands on her thin hips. Her curly locks of hair fell down to her knees, just past her lavender mini-skirt, which matched her lavender jacket and white tank-top. Mai Valentine stormed over to Cecelia and gave her a dissatisfied glare, "How dare you try to say I'm not beautiful enough when you married a man like Pegasus J-fucking Crawford?" She scoffed and picked up her package, numbered '00010' and retreated to where the rest were standing.  
  
"Tristan Taylor," Pegasus' voice said, announcing the last of the names.  
  
Tristan eyed the painting with a cold eye, "What the hell ever." He walked coolly and calmly up to the table, but once he saw the fake smile plastered on to Cecelia's face, he almost lost the control he had, as he reached out slowly, forcedly, to grasp the plastic handle of package number '00011.' With another glare towards the painting, Tristan turned his back to Cecelia and started returning to his spot beside Duke. He reached the dice master, and, with a long, exhaled sigh, he fell silent. 

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All seemed innocent and quiet for a few minutes, until a platform descended without warning from the ceiling. On it stood a living replica of the man in the painting; Pegasus. He held a glass goblet of salty red wine in his hand as a large, sinister grin appeared on his face. "Well, well! It seems like we've all been given our packages. Very good! Now, we'll be dispersing to our different cells. Two to a cell please, wouldn't want you taking up eachother's space too much once you're Changed."  
  
Tristan and Duke sent eachother suspicious looks, as Téa walked closer to Mai and stood to the older girl's side. Malik glared at Pegasus, his amethyst eyes shining with malice and hardly restrained fury. The Egyptian opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted when the room flashed red and an alarm rang throughout the corridors. "Mr. Pegasus, 00001 is acting up again." The male voice that sounded slightly familiar to Malik echoed into the halls.  
  
Pegasus turned away from the group momentarily and spoke into an unseen microphone in response to the man who had just spoken. He stood with his back towards his experiments, until he finally turned around and faced the group, grinning widely.  
  
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Ryou moved behind Malik as Pegasus' eyes landed and remained on him, and he fumbled around for Malik's hand before he finally found it. "M-Malik... He's still looking at me..." Ryou whispered into the bronze ear of his best friend. Malik turned to face Pegasus with a protective glare set in his fiery purple orbs.  
  
"You got a staring problem or something, Pega-fuck?" He snarled, wrapping a comforting arm around Ryou's shoulders. He tightened his grip around his friend as the slightly shorter boy shivered under Pegasus' gaze.  
  
"Such a shame you're so rebellious, Mr. Ishtar. You'll be especially fun to Change." Pegasus sent Malik a smile of victory as he lowered the platform until he could step off of it. He approached Malik and Ryou slowly, wearing the same confident smirk that Duke Devlin had sported just moments before. Once he reached Malik, he extended his hand as if to shake Malik's, but the younger sneered and turned his nose up at the offered hand.  
  
"So defiant. Breaking your spirit will be hard to do... But have no doubt about it, Mr. Ishtar- you will be nothing but a shred in ruins, a pathetic fraction of your former self." Pegasus cupped his hand around Malik's chin and stroked the younger's cheek, grinning all the while.  
  
Anger rose within Malik like a wildfire, and he growled. The low timbre of his voice bubbled up inside his throat. '_You motherfucker_.' He let his anger go free as he suddenly grabbed one of Pegasus' fingers between his teeth and bit down hard, cutting at the skin with his canines. Pegasus yelped and pulled back his hand.  
  
"You're a savage little thing... Like a snake, you are."  
  
"Touch me again or look at Ryou another time like that, and you're a dead man, you lousy fuck." Malik spat.  
  
Pegasus took out a handkerchief and wrapped it around his bleeding finger, "So protective and blunt... You should see what happens to those such as yourself."  
  
A shot of fear peirced Malik's heart, but he quickly masked it and arched his eyebrow skeptically. "Oh yeah? What happens to us?"  
  
Pegasus' smile turned dark, and he stepped away from the two. "Cecelia! Bring out number 00001. The blonde boy."  
  
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Tristan's ears perked up, and he tapped Duke on the shoulder. "Hey, you don't think Joey's the one they're talking about, do you?"  
  
Jade eyes narrowed towards Pegasus' turned back. "It probably is. He and his sister Serenity went missing from their home a few days before we were taken."  
  
The hazel-eyed nodded slightly and watched the door on the opposite side of the room. As he watched, he saw three figures approaching them; two were holding on to a third boy by the shoulders and wrists. The boy struggled against his binds.  
  
"Goddamn you pricks! Let me go!" The accent in the voice was clear, as Tristan and Duke's eyes widened.  
  
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Joey growled dangerously and tugged at his arms, trying desperately to free himself from the two men who held him in place. He grit his teeth and snarled lowly, as he let his strong arms relax for a moment. He waited until the men had loosened their grips, as he took a breath. "BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Joey shouted suddenly, as he rejuvinated his muscles, wrestling himself free from the hands that held him still.  
  
Quickly, before the men could react, Joey stumbled his way over to Tristan and Duke. He fell to his hands and knees infront of them, panting, his normally collected amber eyes wild and tense.  
  
"Joey!" Tristan exclaimed, kneeling down beside his friend. He slung Joey's arm around his shoulders and helped the other boy stand. "Joey! What in the _hell _did they do to you?!"  
  
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YuGiOh is © Kazuki Takahashi and other people. I _do not _claim to own anything or anyone except the plot. If you have used or have seen a plot like this used before, I apologize. I do not intend to copy other people's ideas. I don't check the YuGiOh section that much anymore so I don't know all of what's in there.

**Notice** The forum I roleplay on is in deserpate need of an Espa Roba who is willing to yaoi with Rex Raptor. If you would like to join the forum as Espa Roba, please IM me at SurfrLovinOtaku or send me an email (in my bio page). This is on a first come first serve basis, so act fast if you want the part!


	3. Revelations Aren't Always Good

Chapter Two  
  
Sorry this took so long to get out; weekend trips to Palmdale are fun, but they tend to prevent one from updating.   
  
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Joey leaned heavily on to Tristan as he caught his breath. "I gotta get outta here, man... I gotta escape. Somehow. If I don't, I'll go crazy..." he spoke in a broken fragment of his normal voice; his tone was shakey and unsure of itself. Tristan noticed with a slight gasp that Joey didn't even make eye-contact with anyone.  
  
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Ryou glanced back at Malik, after having watched Joey's attempt at escape from captivity, feeling more and more uneasy by the second. "M-Malik... I wanna go home... Let's go home..." he tugged at Malik's shirt in the innocent manner of a child, because that's what he felt like right now- a child lost and separated from the one he held most dear. All Ryou wanted was to be safe in his lover's arms, nice and warm underneath the covers of his own bed. Right now, however, he couldn't curl up in his lover's lap as he so wanted to, and as he knew Malik wanted to.  
  
"I wanna go home too Ry. I want to go home and see Marik and just... see him."  
  
Ryou looked up at him as the taller sighed, "Why didn't they take Bakura and Marik?"  
  
Malik shrugged, "They weren't home at the time, remember? We were the only ones home; they hadn't gotten back from grocery shopping yet. Ra watch over them both; I know if they'd been home, they would have killed that Nigiru prick in a second."  
  
The British boy nodded as he sniffed slightly. "I almost wish they were here with us... that they'd have been taken too. Just so I could fall asleep listening to Bakura's heart like I always do."  
  
"Marik always thinks of a different way to say he loves me every night. It's not even late enough to go sleep and I already miss it." Malik said, frowning a bit as he kept his eye on Pegasus. He didn't trust the man one bit, nor did he believe that the man had a heart of any kind.  
  
A sigh escaped Ryou's lips, and he looped Malik's arm around his shoulders. "It's just you and me now Malik... Just you and me."  
  
The Egyptian let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes. "We'll find a way out Ry... Somehow, someway, we'll find a way out." He mutterted quietly, kicking at the ground with his shoes. "We'll escape."  
  
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Pegasus seemed to have heard the blonde middle-easterner, and he waltzed back over to Malik. "Escape, shall you? Oh, no, we can't have that. No, no, we can't have that at all."  
  
Malik glared, "And what do you mean by that? Once you're done fucking us up, aren't you going to let us loose in society and watch your creations wreak havoc?"  
  
Pegasus laughed dryly and shook his head. "Dear, no. Once you've been taken into the C.A.R.L. laboratories, you're here for good. You can never leave." His eyes fell on Ryou. "You can never leave. And you, my little angel. I've had my eye on you for some time now. Sweet, darling little Ryou Bakura. So pure and innocent, so beautiful and intelligent. I have something very special in mind for you... Yes, indeed, very special. Very special... You, my sweet Ryou Bakura... You may never leave. I shall keep you here as my own secret treasure until the day I die."  
  
Malik parted his lips to speak in protest, but a harsh, unnatural glare from Ryou cut him off.  
  
"I am not a treasure for you to keep! I am not a servant, a doll to be tossed about as you please! My body might be in your grasp, you incompetent fiend... but there is not a chance in hell you will ever have my heart. You can gaze into my eyes and touch my body as much as you like, but all you will see in my eyes is love for another person, and all you will feel when you touch me is cold emptiness."  
  
The youngest of the Ishtars stared at Ryou in shock; he didn't ever suspect that Ryou had a defiant bone in his body. But in this instance, Malik was glad that Ryou had finally stood up for himself. He turned a spiteful eye to Pegasus. "You hear that, Pegasus? You may have our bodies in your presence... but our hearts and souls are not even in this building!"  
  
Pegasus laughed, running a hand through his platinum silver hair. "Oh, no, no, no. That will all change. You'll see, Ryou Bakura. I can give you everything and even more than your current special someone can. I've got all the money in the world, my dear boy! Anything you could ever want, I could supply for you!"  
  
Ryou stared at Pegasus in disgust. "You pig! How can you say that you can buy my affection with your insignificant finance? You could give me all the money and the world, and it would mean absolutely nothing to me, because my heart belongs to someone else. Love is not something you can purchase!"  
  
A slow confident smirk crossed Pegasus' face, and he chuckled; that low, maniacle chuckle that everyone had grown to hate so intensely. "We'll see, Ryou Bakura... We'll see. For now, I'll assign you all to your cells." He turned to face the group, all of whom were feeling slightly protective of Ryou, if even just because no one felt that Pegasus had the right to stake claim on an already taken heart. "Now! All of you shall be escorted to your different cells. You will all be in the same area of the building; wouldn't want you to not become friends... because once you've Changed, the people here are the only ones you will have contact with from now on."  
  
Malik hissed angrily at Pegasus as he and Ryou followed the others out and into a large hallway. He glanced back occasionally to make sure Pegasus wasn't stalking Ryou with those insane honey eyes. Malik had taken it upon himself to protect his best friend until Bakura and Marik would come help them out. But until then, he would be Ryou's shoulder to cry on when times got rough, his rock and strength to the best of his ability and stamina.  
  
There was nothing he wouldn't do for his best friend, as the two were ushered into a cell between the rambunctious boy from before, Joey, and the two girls they had seen earlier. Malik watched the girls, Mai and Téa if he was correct, as they slinked inside the cell. To his left, Malik could hear Joey talking to someone, and if he had heard properly before, the boy named Duke said that Joey had a little sister.  
  
"This cell is disgusting! How can they expect me to live in here when the beds aren't even cleaned?! This is absolutely horrid!"  
  
All of the new occupants of C.A.R.L. automatically knew who the voice belonged to. A sigh emitted from one of the cells containing people who had already been taken to the laboratories.  
  
"There isn't anything we can do to change the living conditions; you might as well get used to it."  
  
Joey's voice was heard next, "She's not gonna wanna listen to ya, Yugi. I know ya mean well but it's not worth the effort."  
  
Yugi stood up and walked over to the front of the cell, resting his hands on the bars. He glanced towards the cell beside his, the one that held Mai and Téa. "I know you don't want to be in here. But none of us do. Fighting the system the way you are isn't going to get you anywhere."  
  
Mai humphed and set her package down, then reluctantly lowered her slim body to sit on the plastic. "Well, then how do you suggest we--"  
  
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The door that led to the cells opened, and in walked Pegasus, with who appeared to be his number one henchman, Nigiru, trailing behind him. "How do you all like your cells? Comfy, aren't they?" The grin the older man wore was sickeningly false and far too sweet to be sincere. He clapped his hands together and chuckled slightly, but no one else found any humour in the situation.  
  
Tristan growled from his shared cell with Duke. "You're one very twisted man, Pegasus J. Crawford. One day you'll die because of what you've done, and what you're doing now. I'll make sure you burn in the pits of Ninth Hell for all your wrongdoings!"  
  
Pegasus didn't seem to hear Tristan, and so the boy continued.  
  
"One way or another, Pegasus, one way or another you will pay!"  
  
Finally, Pegasus responded. "Hmm, well, I'm not too worried. There's not a chance you'll escape or be able to harm me in any way whatsoever during the night."  
  
"Why's that?" Duke asked, standing up beside Tristan.  
  
"He turns off the oxygen in all the building except for where we are and where he and his cronies stay." Joey responded for Pegasus. He stood up in his cell and walked over to the front. "Unless we wanna die, Dukey, there's no way we can get out."  
  
"That's right, Joey Wheeler. There is no escape. None at all. Unless," Pegasus said with a melodramatic sigh, shrugging his shoulders with fake sadness, "Unless you consider _death_ your escape! But, we wouldn't want that, now would we?"  
  
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Joey's anger at Pegasus resurfaced as a sudden well of fury exploding into his chest. His body shook with rage as he suddenly lept at the bars and shook them violently; the other bars of other cells rattled from his exerted force. The people in the other cells shrank back at the teen's look of pure hatred. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! WE'RE NOT A BUNCH OF MOTHERFUCKING DOLLS FOR YOU TO PLAY WITH! WE'RE NOT A BUNCH OF ANIMALS! WE'RE FUCKING HUMAN BEINGS!"  
  
"JOEY!" A girl's voice, who everyone else guessed was Serenity, the blonde's younger sister, shouted. "Joey, please stop! Please, big brother!" Serenity ran up beside her brother and pulled at his tense arms, placing her delicate hand atop his bulging muscles. "Please Joey! Calm down!" She tugged at his sleeve until he faced her, his eyes alive with fury and his fists still shaking. "Joey, please." Tears welled up in Serenity's soft hazel eyes, and she clung to Joey's waist, burrying her face into his chest. "Please..."  
  
With a long sigh, Joey slowly uncurled his fingers and lowered his arms to wrap around Serenity's shoulders, guilt rising in his chest for being a bad example for his little sister. He bent down to whisper in Serenity's ear, "I have a plan, Sis. Your big brother's gonna get us outta here, I swear it."  
  
Serenity looked up at Joey, her hazel eyes shining with hope and trust. A smile lit her face, and she released her brother. "I'll do whatever you want me to. Anything at all."  
  
"Good," Joey grinned, straightening himself out.  
  
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"Aww! What a Kodak moment!" Came a drawling voice, causing everyone to cringe at the reminder that Pegasus was still present. "I think you two, Mr. and Miss Wheeler, will be our star experiments!"  
  
"'Our star experiments,'" Tristan muttered in mockery of Pegasus. "What the hell; can't you allow any positive emotions to exist without making fun of them?"  
  
The older man frowned slightly and strolled over to Tristan. "Aww, what's the matter, Mr. Taylor? Can't you take a joke?"  
  
"A joke?! That's what all this is to you? A _joke_?! Taking us from our homes as if we had committed some kind of horrible sin, and then inprisoning us like common criminals?!"  
  
Duke growled slightly from where he was sitting nearest the back wall. "Pegasus is a fucking freak, Tristan. Don't waste your time or concern on him."  
  
Pegasus grinned psychotically, "Such a brash young man."  
  
"Got a problem with that?" Duke shrugged, closing his eyes as he gently rubbed his injured shoulder.  
  
The grin turned sinister. "As a matter of fact, young man, I do."  
  
"Tough shit."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I said tough shit, Pegasus."  
  
A slight snarl emitted from the university graduate, "I'll have lots of fun with you. Yes, indeed. Lots of fun."  
  
Duke shrugged, "I'd like to see you try, old man."  
  
"You're so sure of yourself." Pegasus noted. "Are you sure that's so safe?" He approached the cell that held Duke slowly. "Very sure of yourself indeed."  
  
The dice master arched an eyebrow, "You're not intimidating me."  
  
A slight frown crossed Pegasus' face, "We'll see, Mr. Devlin, we'll see." Once again, Pegasus turned to face all of his captives. "Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted... Those of you who have already been here know how things here at C.A.R.L. are run. However, you newcomers do not, and therefore you shall be informed of the method in which ordinances are put into action.  
  
"You get three meals a day. Lights go out at precisely eleven-thirty P.M., and wake up calls are given at seven in the morning. During the day, you are not to leave your cell unless instructed to do so by an official worker here at the laboratories. If you are found wandering the halls when you do not have permission, there will be a punishment. I'm quite sure that none of you enjoy punishments, except for maybe one of you," Pegasus' eyes lingered momentarily on Joey's figure that shook with rage, "so I recommend you do not attempt to escape.  
  
"As previously mentioned, we will be monitoring every miniscule detail of your personalities in order to determine which animal suits you best.  
  
"That covers the basics; you will all be informed of the other... _rules _tomorrow at breakfast. Have a good night's sleep, dearies!" With that, Pegasus smiled disgustingly and waved to the prisoners before he strolled out of the large yet dingy room. The door closed behind him.  
  
.  
  
All was silent for a few minutes, until a soft cry emitted from the cell between Joey and Mai. Serenity and Yugi stood up and walked towards the front of their cells, trying to peer into the cell from which the cry had come.  
  
"Who is that?" Serenity asked, concern prominent in her voice.  
  
Malik sighed and pulled Ryou tight against his chest, trying desperately to provide even a fraction of the comfort Bakura could to the younger boy. "Ryou -"  
  
The British boy looked up at Malik through teary eyes, "How can he act as if this whole thing is a game, Malik? He's screwing with people's lives! Destroying everything! And he doesn't even care!"  
  
Joey sighed. "No, he doesn't. He doesn't give two shits about what he's doin'. The lousy bastard..."  
  
Serenity frowned and crawled over to her brother, "Don't worry, big brother. You said you have a plan, remember?"  
  
"A plan?" Téa chirped up, her sea-blue eyes hopeful. "A plan for what?"  
  
"To get the fuck out of here before he has the chance to do his little experiments on us." Joey said, closing his honey-coloured eyes as he sank to the floor, locking his hands together. "You guys, I don' know about the majority of ya, but lemme tell ya something I know."  
  
.  
  
Ryou sniffed slightly, as Tristan sent Duke a curious look. Yugi glanced at the person sharing his cell, a young girl who went by the name Ishizu¹. She was sitting off to the side, her long, dark hair falling around her shoulders. Her deep cerulean eyes focused on the stone slab of floor infront of her. Malik, unaware that his sister was sharing a cell just a few spaces away, let out a sigh, rubbing Ryou's back. Serenity sat back on her knees and watched her brother with trusting eyes. And, all alone in a smaller cell by himself, sat the younger brother of the world-reknown Seto Kaiba; Mokuba.  
  
Joey took the silence as a way of asking him to speak, and so with a long sigh he began his story.  
  
"I was the first one they brought here. Me and my sister. While they were assembling our packages, I overheard Pegasus talkin' to one of his right hand men. He's not the first one to try some crazy-ass experiment, and we're not the first ones to suffer 'cause of it. Las' time they tried to pull shit like this, all'a the people experimented on died for one reason or another. An' the assholes who were conductin' the experiment didn't even give the people that died a proper funeral or even anythin' similar to it. They jus' threw the disfigured bodies outside inta the dirt. Later, the police got word of what was goin' on, but by the time they got to the place it was way too late. The head honcho had already hung himself off'a the side of the buildin'."  
  
Serenity looked at Joey fearfully, her hands wrapping around her shoulders in a self-embrace. "That's horrible... Completely horrible..."  
  
Joey frowned and pulled his sister into his arms for a hug, "It gets worse. After the cops found the bodies, the faces were so disfigured that no one could identify anyone. Not only that, but the arms and legs had all sortsa crap fused inta them. Animal fur and snake skins, any an' every human- animal deformity ya could ever dream up. Those freaks totally destroyed those people's lives, without any cares, either!"  
  
Duke narrowed his eyes, "Fucking bastards... So is that what Pegasus plans to do to us?"  
  
Only Serenity could see the solemn nod that was the response. "Unless we're all havin' the same crazy dream I am."  
  
Mai rolled her eyes after hearing Joey's story, and rested her chin atop her interlaced fingers. "That's insane. Purely insane! That man is sick!"  
  
For the first time, Ryou spoke up. His voice was filled shakey, yet filled with a deep sorrow and unexpressible anger. "Tell us something we don't already know."  
  
Malik blinked at Ryou for a moment; ever since the boy had been separated from Bakura, his whole personality seemed to have changed. He sighed and held Ryou closer, relieved that he was still found trustworthy."This whole thing is one big fuck-up by humanity... It makes you wonder where the hell society is headed when it allows shit like this to go down. What kind of deranged philosophy does this Pegasus follow? What does he want to achieve by doing this, save for messing up a bunch of people?"  
  
Ishizu made her presence known at his point, as she recognized her brother's voice. "Malik! Malik, it's me, Ishizu!"  
  
Amethyst eyes widened, "Sister! You're here too?!"  
  
She stood and ran towards the bars, her long, off-white dress flowing behind her slim figure. Dark locks of silken hair fell infront of brightened blue eyes, "I was one of the first ones they brought here. I'm so sorry they dragged you here as well..."  
  
Malik shook his head, even though he knew Ishizu couldn't see the gesture, "You didn't intend for it to happen, Ishizu."  
  
Joey reluctantly interrupted the reunion with a slight sigh as he hugged his own sister. "There's somethin' else I hafta tell ya'll... About what I found out."  
  
-  
  
-  
  
1 - No, I don't support the Yugi or Yami x Ishizu pairing. I just needed a way to bring her into the story. I'm sorry about sticking Mokuba in a cell all by himself, but I didn't plan on bringing him into the story. It just sort of happened ;  
  
YuGiOh is © Kazuki Takahashi and other people. I do not claim to own anything or anyone except the plot. If you have used or have seen a plot like this used before, I apologize. I do not intend to copy other people's ideas. I don't check the YuGiOh section that much anymore so I don't know all of what's in there. 


	4. Secretive Chances

Chapter Three  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Serenity looked up at Joey with worried hazel eyes, "What is it, big brother?"  
  
Joey frowned as he glanced away from Serenity. "Ninety percent of the people died on the table. The remaining ten percent slowly died off over the next few days. Only one of them survived for longer than a week, but then he died from malnutrition and overall inability to fully adjust to the attributes of the creature he'd been assigned."  
  
"What was he given?" Ryou asked out of curiosity.  
  
Silence was the immediate response, until, "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it an animal."  
  
The British youth blinked, "Then what was it?"  
  
"Well, unless I heard wrong, Ryou, this person was an attempt at recreating an angel. He was a 'special' experiment."  
  
"What?!" Malik suddenly shouted, clutching a wide-eyed Ryou to his chest. "That's what Pegasus said to Ryou!" The boy in question let out a sigh and shudderd in Malik's arms.  
  
Joey's sigh of anger was audible, even from Mokuba's lone cell. "Look, Ry. He starts freakin' you out or somethin', jus' come and tell me, 'kay? Anythin' he says or does that makes you even slightly uncomfortable, you tell me and I'll give him a piece of all of our minds!" He made a motion to punch his open palm with his fist.  
  
"Joey, don't get yourself in any more trouble. You're already in enough to last us all a lifetime or two." Tristan warned.  
  
"So what?" Joey countered, "I already told ya this years ago, Tristan! I could care less what happens to me! I told you that when we first met!"  
  
"Well, what about your sister, Joey?!" Duke broke in, "What about the person who means everything to you?" The raven-haired boy let a moment pass so his words would sink in. "She would be lost without you."  
  
Serenity nodded in agreement with Duke. She looked up at Joey sadly, "I know you want to protect me and the others, Joey, but please be careful."  
  
The brown-eyed blonde seemed to calm down at his sister's words. "This just ain't right, Sis... This just ain't right..."

/

Malik set his hands on Ryou's shoulders, looking straight into the boy's chocolate eyes of shattered hope. He exhaled deeply, trying to raise Ryou's dead optimism back from its grave of hopelessness. "C'mon, Ry... Don't worry about it, okay? You're safe here with me and the others. I won't let them hurt you, I swear it."  
  
Ryou hardly dared to look away from Malik's eyes, even though he wanted to. "But what if, my the time Bakura and Marik get here, we're already Changed?" He finally dropped his gaze and looked to the side, "I'll be a freak. I'll embarrass Bakura."  
  
"Don't think like that! Please, Ryou. Don't ever think like that. The second you start to give up hope like that, then you've already lost."  
  
"But it's true, Malik! Why would Bakura want to date a freak?!"  
  
Malik sighed. "He loves you, Ryou. He loves you more than anything, and nothing or no one can chance that. It's what's in here that matters," He gently placed his hand over Ryou's heart.  
  
"I... suppose."  
  
"I know."  
  
.  
  
Ishizu sighed and lifted herself up from the corner of her cell. Gazing out of the 2-foot by 2-foot window with darkened azure eyes, she gently lifted her mocha-coloured hand to the bars of the window, grasping onto the iron. The wind blowing in from outside fluttered around her dress. She let out a sigh and leaned back against the stone wall, releasing her grip on the bars. Her eyes slowly slid shut as she lowered herself back down to the stone floor, resting her body on her long, slender legs. "How anyone can be so cruel... So inhuman..."  
  
Yugi looked up at the tall girl who shared his cell. "This man... this Pegasus. He's crazy."  
  
"Crazy doesn't begin to explain it." Mokuba chirped up, "He's just so... mean." The boy frowned and curled up into a ball, wishing desperately that he had someone to share the cell with. Things just got so lonely when the only face he had to look at was that of cold, hard, stone wall. "I wanna go home."  
  
From a couple cells away, Ryou sighed and burried his face into the curve of Malik's neck. The Egyptian sighed and rubbed Ryou's back. "Shh..." He knew Ryou was hurting, because he was too.  
  
"I hate him." Joey muttered from his cell, "I fucking _hate _him!"  
  
"Don't we all?" Yugi said more than asked.  
  
There was a silence in which the only audible sound was that of Malik's soft 'shh's, Joey's occasional curses, the drumming of Tristan's fingers against the ground, and Yugi's grunts of annoyance as he racked his brain for any possible ways to beat Pegasus at this sick, twisted game called Life. Ishizu's face formed a frown as she resumed her least favourite pasttime of staring blankly out the window, while Serenity curled up by her brother's side; Mokuba heaved a sigh. Ryou had since fallen into an uneasy sleep. Duke amused himself by watching the rythmic motions of Tristan's fingers as they created a tune that everyone knew by heart, yet, at the same time, was completely foriegn to them all. Téa stared boredly at the wall with her chin rested atop the palms of her hands.  
  
Mai looked up from her nails with exasperation, having become far too preoccupied with her current settings to have the patience to paint each nail with lavender percision. "This is pathetic."  
  
Téa let out a sigh and, for a moment, wished that she had taken the cell with Mokuba instead. "Mai, please. That's not going to get us out of here any faster."  
  
Mai rolled her magenta eyes slightly, but spoke no more on the subject for a few moments. The day's events had drained her of energy and stamina. "I don't think you understand."  
  
A shake of the head, and Téa leaned back upon her pathetic excuse for a bed, her brown bangs falling infront of sea-blue eyes that seemed to have lost their sparkle. "I wanna go home just as badly as you do, Mai. But think about it; if he knows he's getting to you, then he's already won. Then he already gets the satisfaction of knowing that he bested you, whether or not he actually decides to carry out this crazy plan of his."  
  
The blonde girl humphed indignantly, regretfully acknowledging the fact that Téa did, in fact, have a rather rational point. She folded her arms across her lavender-clad chest and glared at the bars which held her prisoner. "I suppose you're right."  
  
The younger girl gave a small smile, "Well, if that's how you want to admit that I'm right, I guess you're entitled to your own opinion."  
  
"Don't get so haughty," Mai said, her fiery orbs softening significantly. "Else I may have to come over there and do something to quiet you down."  
  
"Like what?" Téa asked, suddenly going on the defensive, "What do you mean?"  
  
Mai's smile turned almost predatory. "Well, I should think it's not too bad a... '_punishment_.' I daresay I should hope it was actually... pleasurable."  
  
Téa blinked curiously, not understanding where Mai was heading.  
  
Mai winked and formed a kiss shape with her moist lips, and Téa understood. A faint blush crossed her face.

/

Things had gotten pretty quiet over the next few weeks; even the frequency of Joey's anger-filled outbursts had gone down some. Everyone had, for the most part, adapted to their new way of life. But even though things were quiet on the outside, they were nothing but the opposite once the click struck midnight, and everyone was sure that Pegasus and his good-for- nothing henchmen had retreated to their beds for the night, that's when the sleepy façades melted away and the intense planning began.  
  
Each night, the people who stayed up past the regulated 'bedtime' rotated. Tonight, it was Joey, Serenity, Ryou, Tristan, and Malik who stayed up.  
  
.  
  
"Look," said Joey, heaving a sigh, "They're of the idea that we ain't plannin' anything- that's what I'm trying to say."  
  
An annoyed sigh, obviously belonging to Malik, was followed by a voice. "Are you sure about that? This whole plan of yours, Wheeler, could very well cost all of us our lives."  
  
Serenity broke in, her attitude now drastically different from its normal pleasancy. "Would you rather we stay here as... as _animals_, or perhaps even _less _than that?"  
  
No one responded.  
  
"I would rather... die," Ryou said, finally cracking the uneasy silence. "Think about it. What's the point in living here -- anywhere -- once we're Changed? Anywhere we go, it'll be either Pegasus' snide remarks and demonic smile or scrutiny and disgust from our fellow humans!"  
  
"I already get that for being bi." Joey muttered quietly; Tristan frowned in sympathy, for he, too, understood the pain of narrow-mindedness. "What's new about that?"  
  
Malik sighed, "Who cares if you're bi? That's not going to be your downfall while here, because I don't think Pegasus cares about your orientation. And if he does, well, that's just low. But we're not talking about that right now..." He turned to face Joey's cell, alinging himself with Ryou. "Now... back to your plan."  
  
Joey nodded slightly, though Malik couldn't see. "This is gonna take a lot more time than I first thought, but... Tristan, I'm gonna need you and Duke to cause as much commotion as you possibly can. Doesn't matter what you do- flood the toilets, break the sink, whatever."  
  
"Gotcha." Tristan said determinedly.  
  
"And, Ryou, I'm gonna need you and Malik to guard the entrance to this room- don't care what you do, _just keep them out of here_," said Joey, unconciously cracking his knuckles. A fairly loud crack resonated throughout the dungeon-like room as each knuckle cracked.  
  
"Got it." Malik and Ryou said simultaneously, and the planning continued.

/  
  
Meanwhile, in a room much more comfortable than all the cells but together, sat a man with silky and lengthly silver hair, and crazy honey eyes. Clad in a maroon buisness suit, he leaned back against a cushioned chair that matched his outfit. He held a cup of salty red wine in his hand, sipping it as he had so many times before. With a carefree wave of the hand, he drew a couple of his servants to his side.  
  
"We will be starting the observation process tomorrow," said Pegasus, "I will need you to monitor the cells morning to night. Everything about these people must be recorded, every little detail. Even the way they lie down to slumber. Now that they're adjusted to life here at C.A.R.L., it's safe to go ahead and do as we please. Do you understand?"  
  
The two men nodded curtly, their dark-coloured trenchcoats covering much of their face as they did.  
  
"Good," said Pegasus, clapping his hands together. "Now, reguarding breakfast tomorrow morning..."  
  
"..._what_?! Why only you two?"  
  
Malik was on his feet, grasping the bars of his cell with cold fury that lined every inch of his face. His teeth were pressed harshly against eachother, his breath coming in as ragged pants of anger.  
  
Joey growled slightly, and stuck his hand between the bars just enough for to motion to the Egyptian that he had to lower his tone of voice, lest they all get caught. "Look, Ishtar, I'm doin' what I can! They'll catch on way too quickly if all of us dissapear at the same time!"  
  
"So you're only bringing us into this to save yourself and your sister?! What about all of us?!"  
  
"I _told _you, once I get out and find a place to fit us all, I'll come back!"  
  
"How do we know we can trust you?! We don't know anything about you except your name!"  
  
Joey clenched his fists, now that both hands were back inside the cell, and glared at the wall separating himself from Malik. "None of us know jack shit about the other, Malik! I don't know a thing about you, or Ryou, or anyone except for my sister, Tristan, Duke, and Yugi!"  
  
"That's still more than the rest of us," Malik snarled, "Fat lot of help it does for the rest of us, who get to sit here on our asses while _you _parade around town!"  
  
"I NEVER SAID I WAS GOING TO PARADE AROUND TOWN!" Joey roared, rising to his feet with such a quick motion that Serenity fell backwards a bit, "In case you hadn't heard me the _first _twenty-hundred times, I ain't goin' through all this shit just for me and Serenity! I'm going through it so I can get all of us out here!"  
  
Malik's body tensed up, as if to reply, but Ryou set his hand on the Egyptian's shoulder and held him back. "Look, you guys... We're all we have now. Just us. We can't afford to start hating eachother. Not now, not ever. The only chance we have to get out of here alive and as normal looking as possible is to stick together. We don't have any other choice..."  
  
"He's right," Serenity said, "Ryou's completely right. Pegasus wants this to happen, you guys. He wants us to break apart, to start fighting with eachother, so that by the time he gets to us, we're already broken." She stood, her voice trembling with quiet power. "But we can't let him do that! We can't show him any weakness. Joey, Malik, if Pegasus sees you two arguing, even over the slightest thing, then he'll work that to his advantage. _We can't let him break us_."  
  
As the group trudged into breakfast the next morning, each member of the 'Animan' group was greeted with the feeling that someone knew something they shouldn't. No one could quite put their finger on it, but each and every person had a dreadful sense of negative forboding.  
  
The group sat in their usual spaces, with Ryou sitting between Malik and Joey. To Joey's left sat Serenity. On Malik's right was Ishizu, who sat next to Duke, who had made a point to always sit next to Tristan. Mokuba sat to Tristan's right, while Téa sat next to Mai, who was a seat away from the youngest Kaiba. And, finally, Yugi sat between Serenity and Mai, completing the circle.  
  
Pegasus and his men sat on a stage of some kind, raised high enough to see all that went on at the circular table. Pegasus watched each uneasy face as it glanced at the one beside it. He knew what was going through their minds. A slight smirk crossed his face as he stood and extended his arms.  
  
"Members of the C.A.R.L. experiment! It has come to my attention that you have been staying up past the regulation lights-out time. Perhaps you all suffer from insomnia? It _is _possible, seeing as how we are so often drained of the energy for everything- even sleep. However," Pegasus said with a somewhat nasty smile, "it has also been made known to me that you, as a group, have been planning to escape?"  
  
He glanced over each face wrought with guilty surprise. He noted their expressions by arching his eyebrow ever so slightly. He kept his smile in place. "And I must say, I've heard all your plans from the beginning. Very good plans, indeed. Now, it wouldn't be fair to say you couldn't get your chance to escape after you've all been working so hard. So, hear me out."  
  
Everyone stared at him in shock. Duke sent Tristan a curious glance.  
  
"I will give you one chance- just one- to escape. If you succeed, you're free to go and do whatever you want, when and wherever you want... However," said Pegasus with a maniac glint in his eye that sent a shiver down everyone's spine, "if you fail to escape, you're stuck here at C.A.R.L. forever."  
  
Ryou was the first to speak after a silence had settled in the breakfast room. "And by free you mean... you'll never bother us again? Never try to capture us again? And, if we chose to, we could report you to the government?"  
  
"Yes. You may do whatever you want. It will be as if you never even came here in the first place."  
  
"No catches? No anythings?"  
  
Pegasus shook his dark silver head, "So untrusting, sweet little Ryou Bakura."  
  
Malik sensed the slight anger that rose within Ryou's chest, and placed his hand on the boy's arm to calm him down. "And what proof do we have that you'll stick to your word, eh?"  
  
Pegasus pointed to a small video camera sitting quietly on top of a stand in the upper left hand corner of the room. It whirred around in a circle; the red light blinked to show it was recording. He turned back to the group.  
  
"Well, now that you have your proof, you may carry out your plan as you see fit, whenever you like. Just done thing- don't try the front door."  
  
And with that, Pegasus returned to his meal, as did the others. What now? The risk was almost too great...  
  
_And_, wondered Joey, _how did Pegasus find out_? _Is someone sneaking information_?  
  
-  
  
-  
  
And thus, the plot thickens! Just a few notes to clear up any confusion...  
  
The cell order goes like this-  
  
Joey, Serenity - Malik, Ryou - Mai, Téa - Duke, Tristan - Yugi, Ishizu - Mokuba   
  
Seating order at the table is as follows-  
  
Yugi - Serenity - Joey - Ryou - Malik - Ishizu - Duke - Tristan - Mokuba - Téa - Mai - Yugi  
  
YuGiOh is © Kazuki Takahashi and other people. I do not claim to own anything or anyone except the plot. If you have used or have seen a plot like this used before, I apologize. I do not intend to copy other people's ideas. I don't check the YuGiOh section that much anymore so I don't know all of what's in there.


	5. It's What We Become

Chapter Four

Bakura and Marik make their appearance this chapter! w00t!

Okay, sorry for the wierd formatting, but FFN won't let me format as I usually do. [bows] gomen ne, minna-san!

* * *

Joey awoke the next morning with the perculiar feeling that someone was watching him. He blinked and looked around the cell for Serenity, but she was still asleep, her long strawberry-brown hair falling and rising with each breath she took. The Boston blonde narrowed his eyes as he glanced away from his sister. Within moments, he jerked his head up at the ceiling to find a small video camera resting quietly in the corner. He grit his teeth and looked towards the front of the cell. Almost automatically, he saw someone withdraw a notebook, scrawling something on the paper all the while. He glared.

"Alright! Who's there?!" he snapped, standing quickly.

The person didn't reply, but instead just continued writing notes in that frustrating fashion. Joey heard the occasional mutters that issued from just outside, and he figured that there were at least two people outside the cell, monitoring himself and his sister.

Joey froze as he heard the rustling of clothing, signaling that he and Serenity weren't the only ones being watched. He growled under his breath, eyeing the spot where the people had just been warily. His breath hitched as he heard footsteps echoing closer and closer to them. Quickly he leaned back against the wall, drew his knees in, folded his arms down over his knees, and inclined his head in mock sleep. Only once he heard the door slam shut, and the voices outside slowly die off, did he scramble over to Serenity. He shook her shoulder lightly.

Serenity yelped as she was shocked into conciousness, but Joey's hand was instantly placed over her mouth to mute the sound. "_Shh_! Calm down, Serenity, it's me, Joey."

The girl relaxed, and once Joey's hand had removed itself from her mouth, she leaned over and hugged her brother. "What's wrong, Joey? Why'd you wake me up so early?"

Joey held his finger to his lips. "They're watchin' us now. I saw 'em. Jus' now. I woke up and they was watchin' us as we slept -- all'a the others, too -- and takin' notes'a some kind."

"But why? What do they want to know that they can't just ask us?"

The blonde shrugged and sent a glare towards the door as someone walked past. "Damned if I know, Sis. But I gotta distinct feelin' that we have more ta worry about than what's for breakfast."

"You mean... they're going to start the experiments soon?"

"I'm hopin' I'm wrong. But what other reason would they have?"

"They wouldn't," Serenity sighed, "What's going to happen to us now? Pegasus knows about our plans, Joey..."

He frowned. "I know. But we've still gotta_ try_."

Silence filtered into in between the two as Serenity curled up against her brother's side with a melancholy air.

"Hey, Serenity, why do you think he warned us not to use the front door?"

* * *

Joey caught up to Yugi the next day after lunch on the way back to the cells. He casually walked alongside the shorter boy until they were out of earshot of Pegasus and his men. "Yugi."

"What's wrong, Joey?" Yugi asked, his wide indigo eyes blinking.

Joey kept his eyes downcast as he dug his hands into his pockets. "I woke up one time las' night," he said seriously.

Yugi couldn't help but let out a light laugh, arching his eyebrow slightly. "And?"

"They're watchin' us, Yugi. One of Pegasus' cronies was watchin' me, my sister, you an' all the rest las' night. Takin' notes. Monitorin' us." He balled up his fists in his pocket.

Yugi's expression went from mildly skeptical to shocked, and even somewhat intimidated. The boy quickly narrowed his eyes in thought. "D'you know why?"

"No," Joey said, "but Serenity an' I think Pegasus wants ta start his experiments soon. Tha's why he's been so nice ta us lately. We've gotta break outta here before he starts his little games, Yug'. We gotta..."

"We'll find a way, Joey. I promise..."

A smile lit the taller's face. Yugi always knew just what to do, just what to say.

* * *

A pale fist slammed down against the dining room table as its owner breathed heavily in barely supressed anger. Spiky white hair hung ragged, as did the clothes now hanging off the boy's thin body. The fist raised again to crash into the table when a darker hand caught it mid-air.

"Stop it, Bakura."

The one called Bakura struggled against Marik's much stronger grip for a few moments until he finally gave up. Bakura tried to worm his way out of the Egyptian's arms; he hated being restrained. "Let me go!"

"You're just going to hurt youself." Marik said, loosening his grip that held Bakura's arms across his own chest a little. "Calm _down_, Bakura."

The white-haired thief growled and squirmed, but once again found Marik's grip far too strong, and let his shoulders fall. "Marik... I have to get to Ryou..."

"I know," Marik said. "But you have to save your strength. Think. Who's the cause of this whole war?"

Sharp cinnamon eyes widened in understanding. "Pegasus J. Crawford."

Marik nodded. "That's right. All we have to do his find that freak show's headquarters, and we've got it made."

"And how do you plan on getting us inside once we do find it?"

Shrugging, Marik replied, "We'll wing it. Not many are stupid enough to stand up to both of us, let alone just one."

Bakura smirked. "You have a point there. We won't have any problems."

"That's right." Marik finally let go of Bakura. "You'll have Ryou and I'll have Malik in no time." He watched as the other scrambled away quickly. "And Pegasus is going to pay with his life."

"I think that's too kind." Bakura said, grinning wickedly.

A sinister grin appeared on Marik's face, twisting his lips into nastiness. "So do I."

* * *

Back at the C.A.R.L. laboratories, Pegasus had gathered all his detainees into the main lobby and was now eteing them all as if he was superior. He smiled nastily at the group, stretching out the tense silence for as long as he could. Pegasus examined each person and their varying degrees of fear and hatred. Malik and Joey could have both won first place for most engraged and spiteful, whereas Ryou and Serenity were tied for most fearful and worried. Yugi's face was expressionless, save for his eyes, which were alive with concern and filled with faintly detectable fury. Duke and Tristan had defiant looks on their faces; Mai had a brave face on. Ishizu's eyes were closed as she kept her hands on the shoulders of the quietly crying Mokuba Kaiba. Téa stood closely behind Mai.

"Dear me! You all look so nervous! May I ask what is causing all of this?" Pegasus drawled, waving his hands around in false concern. "Ah, don't answer, I know why you're all so uneasy."

Malik sneered. Joey growled.

"It's because you all know that today is the day we start the experiments. Yes, that's right, by week's end you will all be Changed."

"Bastard!" Joey exclaimed, stepping forward. Duke and Tristan rushed to his side, should they need to restrain the rambunctious blonde.

Malik hissed at Pegasus, glaring straight into his eyes. "You lousy fuck..."

Pegasus seemed to not hear Malik's insult. "Now, before we take in the first two people, I'll let you all know what animal you will be assigned. Aren't you all so excited?"

"Oh, yeah, I think I'm gonna piss my pants in _happiness_." Duke rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Pegasus glared at the raven-haired boy, before he continued. "Let's start in reverse alphabetical order, shall we?

Ms. Mai Valentine will be fused with a peacock. I believe my men are right in the fact that you're flashy. You enjoy attention.

Ms. Serenity Wheeler will be fused with a horse. She is motherly and always looking out for her own- her brother.

Mr. Joey Wheeler will be fused with the dog- protective and loyal.

Mr. Tristan Taylor, a wolf. He's a follower, protecting from behind. Viscious but kind.

Mr. Yugi Mutou will gain the attributes of a cat- cautious, sharp minded, and yet, friendly.

Young Mr. Mokuba Kaiba will become like a young kangaroo- now, now, the reason for this is his way of turning to others for protection and comfort.

Mr. Malik Ishtar... ah, yes, a snake. Always ready to attack, and violent when doing so.

Ms. Ishizu Ishtar will be combined with the lovely love bird. Colorful but not loud, and caring.

Ms. Téa Gardener, a rabbit, for her method of relying on others for strength and reaching the top.

And, finally, Mr. Duke Devlin, for his sly and smart-mouthed personality, will become part fox."

Silence followed Pegasus' words as everyone glanced around uneasily. Serenity whimpered and turned into Joey's arms, holding him tightly. The blonde set his hands on her shoulders. "Shh..."

Malik glanced at Ryou, who had paled to the point of almost looking paper-white after his name hadn't been mentioned at all. Silently, he walked over to the slightly shorter boy and squeezed his arms. The boy trembled under his grip. He rested his chin on Ryou's shoulder. "Ryou... It's alright..."

"Malik, what's going to happen to me now? Bakura--"

"--is on his way to save you. Marik too. Bakura loves you, and you love him." Malik hugged Ryou close against his chest. "They're coming."

Ryou turned around in Malik's arms to face him, innocent brown eyes moist with tears. "I'll be a _freak_, Malik. I-I won't be the person Bakura fell in love with. I don't even know what I'll be."

"You think the way you _look_ has_ anything _to do with how much he loves you? He fell in love with who you are as a _person_, Ryou, not your _body_."

"But--"

"There's no buts, Ryou." Malik said desperately. "Bakura loves you. Hell, I love you- Marik loves you. You're special to all of us, no matter _what_ in hell you look like."

Meanwhile, Serenity cried into Joey's shoulder, shaking her head as her body trembled. Joey stroked her hair and rubbed her back, glancing up as Yugi walked over to them. The game master rested his head on Joey's hip. Joey let go of Serenity with one hand. "Yugi."

"I hate this." Yugi muttered, bringing a hand up to wipe his eyes. "I wanna get out of here... and I wanna get everyone else out of here."

Joey looked to Serenity, who nodded, pulling away from her brother. The blonde boy bent down and drew Yugi into his arms. "We'll get outta here, Yugi. Don't you worry."

Yugi smiled and hugged Joey back, leaning his head toward's the taller's shoulder. He trusted the other boy with his life; there was no reason why he wouldn't trust his words.

The streetfighter held Yugi closer. "Just want ya ta know, Yugi. No matta' what happens here, we'll still be best friends."

Yugi almost looked sad. "Just friends?"

"More than just friends." Joey muttered, almost hesitantly pressing his lips against the sugar-pink ones of the small boy infront of him. He smiled inwardly. "Yugi..."

"We'll make it through this together, Joey." Yugi said, hugging Joey around the neck.

Joey grinned. "I know, Yugi. I know."

* * *

Pegasus stepped inside the cell room early the next morning and strolled infront of Joey and Serenity's cell. He peered inside at the sleeping boy and girl. He stroked his chin, as if considering them, then shook his head. He moved on to Malik and Ryou. A devilish smirk crossed his face. "Yes, he's the one." 

- 

"Ryou Bakura, please report to the main lobby as soon as possible. Repeat, Ryou Bakura to the main lobby immediately."

An unfamiliar voice boomed throught the cell area. Everyone turned automatically to look in Ryou's direction.

Malik bit his lip and looked to Ryou apologetically. He moved infront of the white haired-boy and hugged him tightly. When he pulled away, Malik gazed into Ryou's fear and sorrow-filled eyes, and his heart broke. "Ryou..." His own soul felt as if it was about to split into two, or maybe even three or four pieces when he saw the pain inside those deep brown eyes. "Ryou... Be strong." He leaned down and gently kissed Ryou's quivering lips.

Tears ran down both sets of cheeks, bronze and cream, as Ryou clung to Malik's frame. "Don't let me go Malik... Don't let them take me away..."

Cupping Ryou's face in his hands, Malik chewed on his lip some more. "Ry, I don't care what happens in there. You'll always be everyone's lucky star. Bakura, Marik, and I love you no matter what."

But his words only made Ryou cry harder.

"I don't wanna go--"

The door near Joey's cell sprang open, and in walked Pegasus, followed by Nigiru and the man who had announced Ryou's name just moments before. "Mr. Ryou Bakura? Your presence is required in the main lobby." Said Croquet, the owner of the unfamiliar voice.

Ryou moved behind Malik, clutching his arm. "Malik..."

Pegasus snapped his fingers; Nigiru and Croquet opened the bars on the cell. Slowly they walked around Ryou and Malik, who instantly went on guard, though he knew in his heart he didn't have the fighting skills necessary to protect Ryou. The men stepped closer to Ryou. Ryou tried to hide in Malik's shadow.

Croquet suddenly grabbed Ryou by the shoulders, yanking him back and away from Malik. The boy yelped and clawed for Malik's arm, even as Croquet pinned his arms to his side with one arm easily, then clamped a big, beefy hand over his mouth. Ryou's terrified brown eyes filled with tears as he saw Nigiru hit Malik across the face, before throwing him violently against the wall.

Ryou bit down on Croquet's hand until he felt the coppery tang of blood enter his mouth. "MALIK! MALIK, HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO!" Ryou shouted, tears flowing freely from his eyes. "_MALIK_!"

But Croquet have a mighty tug, and Ryou was removed from the cell. Malik stared in horror as Ryou's kicking and flailing legs vanished behind the wall of the cell.

"RYOU!"

The door slammed shut before he could get to his feet. Malik screamed and dashed through the still opened bars, past Joey and Serenity. Banging on the door that was obviously locked from the other side, he cried out again. "_RYOU_!"

Malik slid to the floor, shaking, and cleaned against the cold metal door, biting back sobs. "I'm sorry... Ryou... I failed... Forgive me..."

* * *

Does anyone see the connection there?

You'll see who the second person to go through the first rounds of experiments is next chapter. Damn Pegasus. I hate him.

The **official pairings **are Bakura/Ryou (slight Malik/Ryou), Marik/Malik, Joey/Yugi, Tristan/Duke, Mai/Téa, and... I haven't decided about Ishizu and Serenity yet. Or Mokuba. Oh well.

Well, anyways, I have to ask- do you guys really want me to continue this story?

YuGiOh is © Kazuki Takahashi and other people. I do not claim to own anything or anyone except the plot. If you have used or have seen a plot like this used before, I apologize. I do not intend to copy other people's ideas. I don't check the YuGiOh section that much anymore so I don't know all of what's in there.


	6. Every Silent Scream

Chapter Five

I'm so shocked by how many reviews this got last chapter! I guess Bakura and Marik really are that cool o.o

* * *

The men came back ten minutes later, looking satisfied with themselves. Malik, who had since crawled back into his cell, glared at the two harshly as they passed by him. He listened as their footsteps echoed throuhout the cold, dungeon-like room. He froze when a dark shadow stopped over his back, and he looked up, broken.

"You. Up." Croquet said, signaling with his thumb. Malik sent him a harsh look.

"Why should I?"

Nigiru scoffed. "You wanna see your little boyfriend before he's Changed, don't you? Besides, Mr. Crawford wants you two to be Changed at the same time. Thinks it'll be cute."

Malik cursed under his breath. He had to be there for Ryou, even if it meant his own suffering. "Show me where he is.

He had never been to this portion of the lab before, even though he had now been here over over a month. Malik wished he had about eight more sets of eyes; even though his building was a horrible place, the design and architecture was fascinating.

"Inside," said Croquet, and Malik was shoved into what looked like a normal enugh operating room. But then he took another look around and saw a stand in the corner with white steets draped over whatever was protruding slightly. Malik gasped when he saw Ryou lying limply on the operating table. He ran over to the boy who was now even paler than usual. The Egyptian turned around and glared at Pegasus, who had appeared behind Croquet.

"What the _fuck _did you do to him, you _bastard_!"

Pegasus shrugged as if the matter didn't concern him. "Hey's asleep, dear boy. Just as you will be when we Change you."

Malik hissed at him with pure hatred. "You better watch out, Pegasus. Your creations might turn on you one day, and then you'll really get it."

Once again, Pegasus shrugged unconcernedly. "Don't you remember, Ishtar?"

The boy's confident stance fell slightly. "Remember what?"

Pegasus grinned triumphantly, and advanced slowly towards Malik, backing him into a corner. "There is no escape. There is no way to defeat me. It's smart that you haven't tried to escape yet- you couldn't, anyways. You think I really meant what I said?"

Malik glared. "Fucking liar,"

"So harsh," Pegasus sighed in mock misery. "Really, you must learn to control your mouth. Now, we'll let you stay here for a few minutes with your boyfriend. Then it's your turn." He stepped even closer to Malik and smirked; their faces were almost touching. "And then you will belong to me... _number nine_."

Maik pushed Pegasus away with the strength that gives one only enough power to perform a miraculous stunt, then fall back into subtility.

Pegasus arched his eyebrow and moved back to where he had been beforehand. "Now, now, Malik Ishtar. Mr. Bakura won't be too different."

Malik's protective side seemed to overrrule the part of his mind that favoured logic at this point. "Don't you touch him. You'll kill him!"

"Oh, no, no, no. We won't kill him. But I will not let him go. He is _mine_."

The younger sneered, baring his teeth. "_I'll fucking kill you!_ You understand me?! And if not me, then Marik!"

"Marik? Who's Marik? Your_ other_ boyfriend? Or your invisible friend?"

"Fucker, Marik is just as real as you and I. And he's coming to rescue me. When he sees you, you'll be lucky to walk away at all; he's not very understanding when it comes to people hurting me."

"And what about your dear little friend here? Doesn't_ he _have a savior as well?" Pegasus taunted.

Malik smirked. "Oh, you can bet your ass he does. He's not understanding either when Ryou's suffering is involved. He's driven to people to asylums and even worse after they've messed with Ryou. So you'd better watch your ass, _Pegsy_, because the fires of hell are nothing compared to Marik and Bakura's wrath."

Pegasus, seemingly unmoved by Malik's threat, shrugged it off carelessly. "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

Once again, a hiss came from the venomous Egyptian boy. "That's your own choice. But don't come crying to me when your mind and body are slowly and torturously being shredded into pieces so small that you'll die before we even get started punishing you."

"Hmm, well, let's wait for this Marik and Bakura of yours to show up... if they're not too cowardly. Then we'll talk."

But he had gone too far. Malik's anger was at the breaking point, beyond logic, beyond words, beyond control of any kind. He leapt forward and grabbed Pegasus around the neck, digging his nails into the skin hard enough to draw blood and (hopefully, thought Malik), cut into the artery. He tightened his grip and shook Pegasus' shocked head a couple times, banging it against the cold, blood-tinted floor. "DON'T - EVER - INSULT - THEM!" he snarled, lowering his face until there was nowhere else Pegasus could look except into his eyes ruled by hatred. He pushed his nails into the flesh harder, drawing more and more blood. "You know, I guess you were right when you said I was like a snake. I am venomous. And I _will_ kill you." He smirked cruelly and removed his hands from Pegasus' neck, and almost gave him a sharp kick to the ribs when a whimper from somewhere behind him brought him shooting back to reality.

Malik pulled himself off of Pegasus. "I'll finish with you later. I've got more important things to see to that your own fucking self." He turned back to Ryou with eyes not full of hatred that had been there just moments before, but deep love and compassion. He held the boy's hand as he saw the surgeons entering the room as if they hadn't seen anything; Malik guessed that in the few seconds when he wasn't looking, Pegasus must have ran away.

"Excuse me, sir." Said one of the surgeons, "You're going to have to wait- and watch, if you chose- from outside."

He didn't fight it this time. Instead, Malik bent down and placed a gentle kiss on Ryou's lips. "Hang on, Ry," he whispered, "I'm right here... don't give up..." With a soft squeeze on Ryou's plae hand, he wiped away a few tears still lining the other's beautiful black eyelashes. He sighed as he left the room.

But he couldn't bear to watch his best friend go through that kind of hell. He closed his violent violet eyes, longing deeply for Marik to appear out of nowhere and embrace him like he so often did, or maybe even just seeing Bakura would suffice, because then he knew Ryou would be safe, and that Marik wouldn't be far behind. He forced his eyes open and watched as one of the surgeons injected a long syringe's worth of clear, almost ethereally sparkling fluid into Ryou's back. Malik could see a cut running through the pale skin. "Come on, Ry... You can make it... Remember all you've got going for you..."

"How endearing! You still love him!"

Malik spun around.

Pegasus, now complete with his neck bandaged up. Parts of the gauze were red; Malik guessed the cuts he made hadn't fully stopped bleeding yet.

"Of course I still love him. I love him for who he is, not what he looks like. Not like you would understand that."

"Hm. Well, let's see if he'll think the same way about you once we Change you."

"What the fuck do you--"

Malik's eyes suddenly closed in timing with his body going limp. Pegasus pulled the cloth away from the boy's face, snapping his fingers. Two new surgeons came and took Malik away to the next operating room to begin the experiment.

* * *

When he woke up, he was on his back in his cell and everyone -- he blinked, then looked around at the faces of Joey, Serenity, Yugi, Mai, Téa, Tristan, Duke, Mokuba, and Ishizu -- all staring at him concernedly. His skin was burning in pain; his face felt as if it might burn off. "W-what happened?"

But no one was able to answer him, for a sudden scream was heard somewhere off to his side. Ignoring the fact that his body ached all over with a fiery tingling, Malik turned over on to his side.

Ryou was curled up into a ball, his bare back exposed and severely red, his mouth open in screams.

"RYOU!" Malik shouted, pushing his way through Mai and Téa. He bent down until he caught Ryou's eye, which was difficult because the boy's chocolate orbs kept on opening and closing. "Ryou, it's me, Malik," he carefully wrapped his arm around Ryou's shoulder.

"I-It hurts... so bad... I can feel it burning..." Ryou leaned into Malik's embrace, eyes tightly closed against the pain.

"What hurts, Ryou?"

"M-My back..." 

"Lemme take a look at it." Malik said, glancing over Ryou's shoulder at his back. Where there used to be a huge cut, there were now two white spherical shapes growing out of Ryou's back. The shapes sparkled and shined as they began to stretch further and further out of his back. The moment of mystery was shattered when a scream ripped its way out from Ryou's throat, causing tears to pour from his eyes.

"M-Make it st-stop... Please... It hurts so bad!" Ryou begged, his throat raw from screaming.

"Shh," Malik held Ryou tight in his arms as he rocked him; his eyes were glued to the rising beams of light from the pale skin. As he watched, the beams spread out a few feet. Everyone stepped back to give the light room to take its shape. The group stared in awe as wings began to form, glowing, shining. All the while, Ryou screamed in agony. He clutched on to the lavender fabric of Malik's shirt, crying in a way that made the Egyptian's heart break. "Shh. Ryou, it's okay... shh..."

"I want Bakura." Ryou said in a shaky voice. The wings continued to grow. "I need him."

Malik bit his lip; he knew his embrace could only serve as a protector for so long. "He's on his way, Ry..."

"I can't live like this much longer... this is killing me..."

"Keep holding on, Ry... keep holding on..."

Someone cleared their throat, disrupting the boys' conversation. Malik looked up to see the stony and determined face of Joey Wheeler.

"I know I don' know you guys too well. I know ya might not like me too much," he said, mostly to Malik, "But I gotta say somethin'." Joey turned to Ryou. "Ry, don't you dare give up now, man. You hafta be strong... you can't let him win ya. One way or another, we're all gonna get outta here. You just gotta say 'Fuck Pegasus, there's more important shit out there for me,' because, I can promise ya, he won't have much time left, what with all the shit he's pulled."

Ryou's whimpers of pain died off slightly as he clung tighter to Malik and listened to Joey's words. He knew the blonde was right. He knew he had to keep on going, for Bakura if for no one else.

Malik's eyes were still entranced by the four-foot wings now sprouting from Ryou's back. Feathers were starting to take as nerves began stretching up and into the spine of the wings. He hardly even noticed the way scales were starting to appear on his shoulders and arms, even his hands and face. It was a subtle change; the scales at their worst weren't excruciatingly prominent, but it was the fact of the matter.

* * *

"Oh, shit..." came Tristan's voice from somewhere behind Malik. Wincing slightly, the violet-eyed looked over his shoulder and saw Pegasus standing in the threshhold to the dungeon, as it had been dubbed by its inhabitants; Pegasus was wearing a demonic smirk on his thin lips.

"So, I see it's already started... Good, good." He turned a cold honey-orange eye to Joey. "Though I can't say the same about you, Mr. Wheeler. Pity, really."

Joey glared. Tristan and Duke walked up beside their friend, ready to fight the man who had caused all this trouble in the first place.

"And what do you mean by that?" Duke asked, smirking. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a die, the same die he had with him the first day he was brought in to the C.A.R.L laboratories. "You know, you really have to learn to speak more precisely. People might start thinkin' you're stupid, if they don't already."

Pegasus gave a sharp laugh, one that caused Duke's confident expression to slip momentarily, Joey to growl under his breath, and Tristan to ball up his fists. "You three really do amuse me! It's not a wonder my men all assigned you canine-like creatures. With the way you always group together--"

"It shows that we have something you don't." Joey spat, interrupting Pegasus. "Ya know, your way of tryin' to scare us is gettin' real old real fast. Come _on_, man, why don'tcha try being a bit more original? All this bullshit talk about how you're in _such_ a _high place_ and can do _so_ much damage to us... Sheesh! In case ya haven't noticed, there's three of us and only one of you. I'd watch what I said if I were you."

Tristan nodded in agreement, bringing up his fists to eye-level with Pegasus.

Pegasus gasped falsely. "Dear me! You're all so cruel! I would never dream of saying or doing anything to harm you!"

"Bullshit!" Malik exclaimed, standing up. "Then what was all that crap you said to me the first day, huh? _Well_? What about all these stunts you're trying to pull now?! You're a fucking liar!"

Pegasus seemed to realize that he was far outnumbered, and that the four boys infront of him could very easily take him down and kill him if they combined their strengths. He had already seen what the dark-skinned boy could do without even trying; he didn't think he wanted to test the tempers and strengths of the three streetfighters. Maybe he'd made the wrong choice in bringing these four in? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, he put on his usual smirk of superiority and shrugged. "What does it matter? You can't escape this place."

"We'll see." Malik hissed. "Don't forget what I told you before. You should only hope that_ I'm _the one to kill you."

* * *

Sorry if the confrontation scenes were badly written. I'm not too good at those. I must say, though, that I loved writing the scene where Malik attacks Pegasus o.o Dunno why, but I just... did. I feel horrible for what I did to Ryou in this chapter. And to Malik. But I promise I'll get Bakura and Marik in here soon to get ridda Pegasus.

This chapter is dedicated to **Fat Cat Buyo aka Tristan/Tris** for being the only one to get the connection to the TV show at the end of the chapter. [Popes Tristan. Snickers]

x Shori


	7. Break

Chapter Six

Ohmygod o.o You people spoil me too much. But I like it!

* * *

The next sun rose with reluctancy, shattering the semi-peaceful air that had been forced into play. No one wanted to wake up that morning; rather, let the dark bliss of night forever reign supreme. All of the cells were now allowed to remain open at all times, which made the burden of what was to come online slighter better, because now Joey could spend more time around Yugi and Mokuba didn't have to be alone.

But there were still rules to be followed. The lights still had to be out by eleven thirty, and wake-up call was still at the cursed hour of seven in the morning.

Ryou's wings had finally stopped growing around 2:00am, and Malik's scales had formed a couple hours later. Each boy dreaded the morning; would they be taken back for more experiments? Malik sighed in his sleep.

But there was one person who wasn't asleep at the dawn breaking hour of 6:00am. Tristan sat up from his place beside Duke, who muttered something inaduible under his breath as the other pulled away from the embrace. Tugging his dark coat tighter around his shoulders, Tristan stood and walked outside his cell. There was only one window in the dungeon that didn't belong to someone else's cell, but it was so small that it was barely noticeable against the dull coloring of the stone slabs.

His gazel eyes gazed boredly outside at the world to which he had once belonged. He sighed.

"Fucking Pegasus... bastard deserves whatever's coming towards his ass..." the seventeen-year-old muttered to no one inparticular. The trees outside seemed to blow with hesitance, almost as if they knew what was coming within the next few hours - perhaps, he thought, they did. Tristan gave the outside world one last, longing look before he turned around--

--to come face to face with Joey. He jumped. "I didn't know you were awake."

The blonde shrugged. "I could say the same for you."

"What're you doing up? You still have an hour to sleep."

"Couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about what happened to Ry and Malik. Tris, I'm worried about Serenity." And Yugi, he added silently.

"I'm worried about all of us, Joey. If what Ryou and Malik went through, what with growing wings and scales and shit, is any clue as to what's coming up, then I hate to imagine what'll happen to us. You, me, and Duke... A dog, wolf, and fox."

"You don't think we'll really be stuck here forever, do ya?" Joey asked his friend as he took a step closer to him, to better see his face. Tristan was a good four or five, maybe even six inches taller than him, he now realized, as he found himself having to look up to meet Tristan's eye. "I mean... there's gotta be a way outta here."

Tristan nodded. "I'm sure of it. Right now, though, the only hope we've got is that Marik and Bakura that Ryou and Malik keep on talking about."

Scoffing, Joey replied, "Yah, well, I dunno how reliable that really is. We don' even know these people and yet we're bettin' our lives on 'em."

He put his hands inside the pockets of his trenchcoat. "It's all we have right now..."

"Nnn..." Joey sound of agreement echoed throughout the dungeons. "Well, all I can say is that they betta come through."

Tristan sighed and leaned back against the stone wall, allowing the beams of moonlight to illuminate Joey's uncharacteristically serious face. "We just have to keep holdin' our heads up, buddy. And you have to be there for Yugi, the same way I do for Duke."

The blonde sent his friend an odd look. "How did you know about me and Yugi?"

Laughing, the taller replied, "You think I don't notice these things? Sheesh... I've seen the way you look at Yugi." He turned and stared out the window once more. "Anyways, Joey, we'd better get back to sleep before that psycho catches us."

"Yeah." Joey agreed quietly. "See ya in the mornin'... or whatever, Tris."

"You too." Tristan gave a goodnatured smirk and ruffled Joey's messy blonde hair. "Oh, and Joey? Do us all a favor and try to stop sleeptalking."

Amber eyes widened in a flurry of emotions, mostly shock and humor, as their owner chased after the hazel-eyed boy. "I do _not_ sleeptalk!"

* * *

"Welcome to round two of the Crawford Animangenics Research Lab's experiment! Today, we will be having two new people brought into the experiment room. Those names will be drawn at random," Pegasus pointed to a box next to his goblet of orange juice. "I will now draw the next two names for the experiment."

Duke made a sound of annoyance. "Will yku hurry up and get on with it? My breakfast's getting cold."

Pegasus, who seemed to have fostered immense dislike for the sassy raven-haired boy, glared in his direction. "It's a pity your name wasn't selected, Mr. Devlin. Otherwise, I would personally make sure that there would be an accident on the operation table."

"Really? Ya mean it?" Duke asked, raising his voice so that he sounded like a little girl, his jade eyes falsely wide. But his eyes darkened suddenly as he lowered his voice past its normal tone. "Yeah, well, we'll just see about that. You're getting in over your head, Pegasus J. Crawford. Playing a game you don't understand." Duke's hand travelled into his pocket and reappeared a moment later, holding his favorite die. "Taking chances before you know the consequences."

Pegasus gave a sharp laugh. "While some of what you said may or may not be true, remember, Dukey-boy, that I am the master and you the dog."

_"SHUT THE FUCK UP_!"

Everyone turned to Tristan in shock; he was usually the semi-quiet one in the background. But now his fists were balled up, his face red with fury.

"I swear to god, you better shut up about him before I _really_ lose my temper and beat your motherfucking face in so bad that you'll be dead before I even get started!"

Serenity whimpered and hid behind Joey. She hated seeing her brother and his friends when they were mad; quite frankly, they terrified her when they were upset, even if they were usually very nice people. It seemed as if the pleasant disposition Joey, Tristan, and Duke had shattered the moment they became angry, replacing the goodnaturedness with a darkness so overpowering and enraged that it was deadly to anyone who crossed it.(1)

"You're a dead man, Pegasus!" Duke snapped, his jade eyes ablaze with cold fury. "Heh, Joey, Tristan, do you see what I see?"

Joey laughed harshly, despite the look that Serenity sent him. "Sure as hell do! Dead man walkin'!"

Pegasus was now starting to become slightly unnerved by the confidence with which his death threats were announced. He never suspected anyone would dare rebel against him once he started in with his mind games, but these boys were apparently unaffected. He thought back to when that Egyptian boy, Malik, had very well almost killed him. 'Perhaps I should be more careful around them?' His hand subconciously rubbed the skin that Malik had peirced. 'No, no, I am in control. The fools think they're in the driver's seat, when they're not even in the car.'

The smirk returned to his face. "We'll see, Mr. Wheeler... we'll see."

Joey scoffed and rolled his sharp brown eyes. "Yanno, you're always saying that, but we have yet ta see anything except you postponin' whatever in fuck it is you keep talkin' about."

Pegasus glared. "Hold your tongue, number one."

"Come again?" Joey taunted in mockery. "'Cause, unless I'm mistaken -- which I doubt I am -- you just called me by a number. What, is your memory so bad that you can't remember my name?"

"I said _hold your tongue, Mr. Wheeler._"

"Can you really not remember what ya wanna call me? Sheesh... pick one already. It's really gettin' annoying."

Pegasus' rage was rising very quickly right now, as he fought to keep his own temper under control.

"Mr. Wheeler, don't tempt me."

"Tempt you to what? Fuck yourself?" (2)

"_Mr. Wheeler, hold your tongue._"

Joey growled, becoming inpatient with Pegasus' non-concerned attitude. "Heh, fine, fine. It's a shame though, you have the emotional capacity of a rock."

Pegasus held up the slips of paper menacingly, and noted the split-second loss of confidence in those brown eyes. "Mr. Wheeler, for the last time... _HOLD YOUR TONGUE_!"

Croquet walked up and quietly took the papers from Pegasus' hand that shook with suppressed rage. "Will Mr. Mokuba Kaiba please step forward." The words were more like an order than a question.

Mokuba gulped and stepped forward, away from the motherly embrace Ishizu had been providing him with. His frame, roughly the same size as Yugi's, if not a bit lankier, made a shakey journey over to Croquet, who shoved him off to the side roughly. "And now for the final experiment of today."

Serenity noticed that Pegasus was looking at her with a smirk of victory. "Joey..."

Joey stepped infront of his sister and glared at Pegasus, shifting from an almost sadistic mode to 'Protective Big Brother' mode. "Leave my sister alone, you prick."

"Temper, temper, Mr. Wheeler."

"I swear I'll kill you if you harm her!" his thick Brooklyn-accent only increased the volume of his threat as he balled up his fists. "I'll send you straight to hell!"

Pegasus gave a carefree laugh and shook his hand dismissively. "I doubt you would actually kill me, Mr. Wheeler. You're big on words and quick to compete, but you're soft deep down. You don't have the guts to kill me."

Joey growled. "You wanna bet?! You don't know shit about where I come from! But you're bettin' your life on shit ya don' know!"

"So, if I gave you the chance, would you kill me? Cut my throat, maybe? Stab me in the heart? Or maybe beat me to death; let out all your bottled up anger in one attack. Or, perhaps, you're the swift kind of killer, and perfer a gun?"

"Don't test me," the blonde boy warned, his entire body shaking, "DON'T FUCKING TEST ME!"

Tristan, having known Joey for over ten years, could very easily sense the impending danger that was bound to come any moment if Pegasus did one more thing to further anger his best friend. He could almost feel the heated pressure building up inside Joey as he fought to control himself. "Don't lose your cool, man..."

"You should listen to your friend, Mr. Wheeler."

"_PEGASUS..._!" Joey's body trembled, though he knew he couldn't try and attack Pegasus while Tristan's ever-watchful eye was on him.

"What? Aren't you going to try and attack me? I'm totally open."

A smirk formed on Joey's lips, "Do you really think I'm that stupid? If there's one thing I learned from growing up on the streets, it's that you _never_ trust your opponent. They've always got a way to fuck you over. What do you think I am?!"

"A dog. That's what. Step aside, Mr. Wheeler, it's time for us to take your sister in."

Joey's body started trembling, never a good sign. A low growl escaped this throat; his honey brown eyes were filled with a fury that not even Tristan had seen before. His hands were balled up into fists so tight that his knuckles had paled considerably as he fought to restrain the dynamite starting to explode within his very soul. "_DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER_!"

"So defensive, Mr. Wheeler..." Pegasus stated, keeping an eye on the shaking blonde. "Are you sure it's good for her safety?"

But the only reaction the older man got, however, was the anger in Joey's eyes burning even more passioinately. He felt screams bubbling up in his throat, so powerful that he almost couldn't control it. The rage was too strong, too overpowering for him to ignore it; too pure and too overpowering for him to try and contain it. "I'm warning you, you touch her and you die!"

Pegasus stepped forward until he was at eye-level with Joey; it was now he realized that the blonde was only just shorter than him, but the few centimeters made little difference. "Don't tell me what to do. You are not in charge. And you will be next," he motioned to bring his hand up, and instantly felt the shift as Joey tensed. Thin, pale fingers brushed close to Joey's skin, just missing his arm.

A deep growl tore up the younger's throat. Pegasus could feel the anger radiating off the boy and knew it was only a matter of time until he exploded. The blonde's eyes were closed.

"You are not in charge," he repeated.

Joey was biting his tongue hard enough to make it bleed. His eyes, usually a mischevious chocolate brown, had now gone almost black. Body almost entirely still, he stood as the center of attention for a few moments.

"Joey...?" Serenity asked carefully, tears building up in her eyes. Her hand rose delicately to touch his shoulder, but his own hand brushed hers away.

He opened his eyes, and he lost control.

* * *

Ryou whimpered in his sleep and curled up closer to the warm body next to him, burrying his face into the strong chest. Arms encircled his petite figure and pulled him close, whispering into his ear. "Shh... Ry... shh..."

A single brown eye opened sadly at the realization that the person wasn't Bakura, but Malik. "Malik?" he asked, his voice ruffled into the sandy-blonde's shirt.

"Shh." The voice whispering to him was protective and hurried. "It'll all be over soon."

"What...?"

"Ry, go back to sleep."

"Malik, what's wrong...? What's going on?"

"Ry, please. Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up later."

Before the British boy could reply, the doors to the dungeons darkened by lack of sunlight flew open. A body was tossed inside, followed by the slamming of the door. Ragged breathing was heard, but the few select curses made it obvious who the person was.

Ryou froze, then shifted behind Malik, whose lavender eyes were wide in suprise behind locks of light blonde bangs.

"...Joey...?"

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T KNOW?!"

Bakura picked up the slightly younger teenager by the collar with one hand, and slammed him up against the brick wall that made up one part of the alley they were in. He tightened his grip around the boy's throat, staring with apathy as the brunette's eyes bulged and he gasped for air. "Listen." Bakura said, his voice darker than usual, "You're not being useful to me. Either you tell me where this lab is right now, or I will _kill_ you. Slowly."

"I - I don't know!" The boy shouted through gasps.

"Fool!" Bakura bashed the younger's head back against the brick wall. "Do not lie! Tell me anything you know, unless you want to die right fucking here, right fucking now." His dark eyes were alive with the shadowy presense of death.

"It... It's near... near the western border..." he passed out.

Bakura scoffed disapprovingly and tossed the stranger's limp body aside with disgust. "Pathetic."

Only partially satisfied with this new information, he made his way over to where he was supposed to meet Marik. Luckily, he could already see the outline of the tanned boy standing in the flooding light from the streetlamp.

He approached Marik with a sulky aura; one the other could sense. Bakura's sharp brown eyes only hardened more at the thought of what that damned Pegasus could be doing to his Ryou at this very moment, and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it.

"Well?" Marik asked, leaning back againt the pole with crossed bronze arms.

Bakura scoffed. "Western border. That's all the fucker told me."

Marik arched his eyebrow. "Tch. Be glad you got that."

"And that means what?"

"Everyone crossed the street whenever I came near them."

A sharp sound, like something between a laugh of humor and sarcasm escaped Bakura's pursed lips. "I can't blame them - what would you do if you saw a stranger approaching you these days?"

"Yeah. Guess so." Marik shrugged and pushed himself off the pole, his hair blowing in the slight wind.

"Let's go."

"_Now_?"

"_Yes _now, you idiot. It's best if we try to break in now, before it gets too light out. We'd get caught otherwise."

"No no no, that's not what I meant. Don't you realize that the western border is on the complete other side of town?" Marik pointed out.

Bakura glared. "So then let's get our asses into motion and _start_ going."

Marik returned the gesture. "I was wondering when you were going to say that."  
  
_'Pegasus... you're dead_.'

1 - I love Joey, Duke, and Tristan. But I think that they, like a few other characters, can be dangerous when pissed off like that.

2 - I'm sorry... (Snickers) I realize how funny that sounded once I finished this chapter, and I just had to point it out... (Hentai halo)

Okay, guys, I apologize immensely. September was a horrible month. I wanted to update in the beginning of September, but I went through about of depression concerning the death of my grandmother. I started school soonafter and the stress went from 1 - 100,000 in a day. I was busy for most of mid-September, and a few days ago I had a nervous breakdown because of stress. So I'm FINALLY getting this out. Thanks so much for reading, guys. I promise I'll be a better updater next time.

x Shori

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim to own anything YuGiOh, characters included, except for the plot of this particular fanfiction. If you have written or have seen a fanfiction like this around the site, I do not intend to copy anyone's work. I don't check the YuGiOh section that much anymore, so I don't know all of what's in it.

**Note:** Please do not ask me to pair you up with a character. This story has been hell for me to write, and I'm not going to change anything I have planned unless I see fit - _especially_ pairings. I apologize for any inconvenience.


	8. Tempting the Beast

Chapter Seven

I'm so sorry for the horrible updatingness. I've been having extremely unbelieveable computer problems... though that might be partially my fault for hitting the damn thing with a hammer so many times. Oh well. 

Here's your chapter!

* * *

Joey struggled into a sitting position. "The one and only." 

"Damn, what the hell happened?" Malik asked as he cradled Ryou. "And why is there blood on your hands?"

Idly, the blonde observed the dried blood staining his skin. "Oh. That. Right. I went kinda psycho on Pegasus. He was threaning my sister. I wouldn't stand for that."

x-Flashback-x

He opened his eyes, and he lost control.

Joey leapt at Pegasus, eyes alive with hatred and burning with passion. Instantly, his hand was around Pegasus' throat; he dug what little nails he had into the wound marks Malik had left last time. He pressed his thumb and index finger fixedly against the jaw bone, grinning like a madman as Pegasus gasped for air. His free hand balled up into a fist, and hep unched Pegasus in the stomach, removing all the remaining oxygen out of his system. 

"Don't - ever - fucking - touch - my - sister," he snarled, and when there was no response, Joey lifted Pegasus up by the neck and pinned him against the blue tiled wall.

"DID YOU NOT FUCKING HEAR ME?! ANSWER WHEN YOU'RE SPOKEN TO, DUMBASS!"

Somewhere in the background, Ishizu moved infront of Mokuba, eyes wide and lips slightly parted in shock.Tea gasped and covered her face. Mai bit her lip, shaking her head. 

Pegasus struggled against the boy's alarmingly strong grip. With a fleeting glance, he noticed that Serenity was staring at Joey in horror and fear as she stood partially behind Tristan, who had decided to just let Joey vent out his anger and only step in if it looked as if Pegasus might actually die. Not like he cared, per se, but he didn't want that kind of guilt on his best friend. Duke seemed to have followed the same line of thought as Tristan, although he seemed more focued on making sure himself and Tristan didn't get injured.

Joey slammed Pegasus back up against the wall. "Fuckin' listen to me! You can't do this, do you under-fucking-stand me?!" He balled up his fist, ready to strike.

"GUARDS!" Pegasus gasped, voice weary.Almost instantly, men in uniformed green combat attire appeared in the lobby. There were about ten of them, that as soon as they entered the blue-tinted room, grabbed Ishizu, Mai, Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba by the shoulders or waist and removed them from the room. Serenity's cry as she was pulled out from behind Tristan and Duke caught Joey's attention, causing him to drop Pegasus to the floor.

"SERENITY!"

Joey sped past Duke, and tried to make it past Tristan, but the dark-haired boy grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back against his chest to better hold him still. 

"Calm down, Joey, they won't hurt your sister."

Once the blonde had stopped struggling, Tristan carefully let go of him. "Damn, man, you sure did one helluva number on that guy." 

"He deserved it. I went too easy on him." Joey muttered. "I shoulda killed the fucker."

Duke glanced over to Pegasus, who was now bleeding from the neck and lying limp. "Well, I don't think he has too much life left in him. He'll die either by one of our hands or by his own fuckin' stupidity."

Tristan laughed quietly. "That's pretty much the same thing, Duke."

"Joey...?"

A new voice, one much more innocent and soft than their own and one that brought their eyes down, broke in at this point. Joey looked down to see Yugi's face. "Yugi...?" 

"Stop, Joey. Stop hurting him. I know you think he deserves it, and... and I guess I do too, but I don't want to see anyone die. Please stop, Joey... for me."

Joey sighed, unable to deny those beautiful eyes and their owner anything that was desired. Slowly, he unclenched his fists and took a few moments to let his anger seep out of his still-shaking body. After what seemed like hours--to Yugi, anyways--Joey let out a deep breath and shook the tension out of his shoulders.

Tristan decided to try and lighten things up. "Hey, man! That was great! You only took ten minutes this time, instead of twenty!"

Duke laughed, Yugi smiled weakly, and Tristan clapped Joey on the shoulder, but they all waited to see what the blonde's reaction would be: he hadn't spoken for just over ten minutes, and silence from him was rarely a good sign.

"...Wanna aim for nine and a half next time?"

x-End Flashback-x

Ryou and Malik stared at Joey carefully as if he might explode at any given moment. Finally, Malik spoke. 

"...Yeah, you shoulda killed him."

Joey scoffed. "Don't I fuckin' know it."

Ryou sighed and sat leaning against Malik. "How much longer d'you think it'll take for Bakura and Marik to get here?" 

Malik shrugged. "I dunno, Ry. I'm starting to think--" He was interrupted by the dungeon door opening. In walked Tristan, Duke, Mai, Ishizu, Tea, and Yugi. Joey craned his neck around the people coming in to try and spot Serenity. Not once did he catch a glimpse of her strawberry brown hair or hazel eyes. Yugi crawled into his lap as he searched for his sister.

"Joey?"

The blonde boy sighed and and looked into Yugi's eyes as he wrapped his arms around his small body. "Yugi." 

"Joey... I... Serenity... They took her to be Changed... I--"

"--A horse, wasn't it? That's what he wantsta change her in to?"

Yugi sighed sympathetically. "Y-yes, Joey... They also took Mokuba."

Joey was silent for a few minutes. "When?"

"When... when you were attacking Pegasus. The guards, remember? At first, I thought they were just taking all the girls and Mokuba out of the room to bring them back here. But after they took you away, they told Tristan, Duke, and me to return to the dungeons with Mai, Ishizu, and Tea... I knew. I'm sorry Joey, I really am! I'm so sorry!" Yugi cried, clinging to   
Joey's frame in apology. Tears leaked out of softly closed eyes. "I'm sorry." 

"I can't believe this is happenin'. We're all gonna end up like Ry and Malik, aren't we, Yug'? Forced to   
become somethin' we're not supposed to be. Changed. Transformed... mutated. Played with as if we're toys   
that can be modified at will. This ain't right... We can't let him do this to us, we just... can't." Joey closed his eyes and rubbed a temple, furrowing his eyebrows.

Sadly, Yugi stared up at Joey's stony face, and lowered his head to rest against him.

* * *

Serenity stared at the bright white ceiling, ignoring the people buzzing around her as they prepared her for The Changing. She wanted so badly to have her brother by her side, but given what he had done to Pegasus, she doubted that was possible. 

As she lay on the cold metallic table, possibly the same one that Malik or Ryou had been operated on, she continued to gaze up at the bright lights with teary hazel eyes. She drifted off into her own imaginary world where all was right, and she and her brother and his friends were back home where they belonged, where they were never at risk for anything bad happening. Suddenly, a soft cry reached her distant ears, and she instinctively looked over to see who had made the sound so scared and lonely. She was greeted by the light-coloured eyes of Mokuba, who, if she remembered correctly, had been assigned the kangaroo.

"Mokuba?" Serenity asked quietly.

The little boy sniffled as he watched the various doctors humming around the OR. "I don't wanna be Changed. I just wanna go home. I don't wanna be here in this awful place." 

"Shh." She whispered as she extended her hand to squeeze his momentarily. "It'll be okay. I promise."

"How do you know?"

Serenity smiled. "'Cause if anything goes even mildly wrong, I know Joey'll make sure it's fixed immediately." 

A man approached her; in his hands were two masks labled 'sleeping gas.' Serenity closed her eyes as the mask was placed over her face. "Don't worry about a thing, Mokuba. I'll be there when you wake up." (1)

-   
_  
The ocean sparkled under the mid-afternoon sun, a deep turquoise. It roared quietly, sang gently. White foam_ _waters crawled on to the shore with power unmatched as they brought with them the salty sweet scent of the _ _sea. It made him sleepy and reminded him of when he was young - when he was free. The breeze took away all _ _of his troubles and carried him off to a distant land where he could relax forever and never have to worry _ _about a thing. Far out into the water, where the curve of the ocean became a straight line, in that single, _ _tiny spot, he saw a figure basking in the rich yellow sunlight. _

'_A dolphin? Mermaid?' He thought. _

_He gazed harder into the depths of the sea. The figure was slowly approaching him with arms outstretched - so_ _it was a person. A few more seconds, and he could see long, silvery hair flowing behind her petite body._

_Could it be...?_

"_...Mother...?"_

_Her soft, angelic smile widened gently as she nodded, silky hair blowing in the slight wind. A pale arm _ _extended towards him; sunlight bounced off her milk-white nails and reflected into gem-like sapphire _ _eyes. She simply looked like an angel as the shimmering fabric of her dress blew about her frame._

"_Ryou."_

"_Yes?" He asked carefully, as if his voice might chase away the apparation infront him. "Who are you...?"_

"_Ryou." She repeated, her voice becoming hurried and concerned. "Ryou!"_

"_What is it? What's wrong?!" Ryou shouted, his heart racing. _ "_Ryou! Ryou! RYOU!" Her face was twisting. "Ryou!"   
Silver hair turned to the color of sand. "Ryou!" Blue _ _shifted to purple. Her cream skin fell into a pool of bronze. The face became Malik's._

"RYOU! WAKE UP!"

His chocolate eyes shot open, looking into Malik'salarmed amethyst eyes. His breathing was harsh and almost painful; his vision kept fading in and out. His back hurt; he remembered the surgery and the wings that had been implanted into his back. "Malik? What's wrong...?" 

"God, Ry! Don't scare me like that! After Joey finished his story and everyone else came in, you passed out. What's up with you?" Malik sighed as he waited for a response.

"I- Nevermind..." Ryou muttered, turning away. He saw Malik sigh and look away, as if making eye-contact would make something horrible come true...

"Ryou... Do you really think Bakura and Marik are coming? I don't want to sound like a downer or anything, but think   
about it... It's been almost two months since we were taken here and we haven't seen hide nor hair of them."

"Of course I still think they're coming, Malik..." Ryou said, although it sounded as if he didn't believe himself as he spoke. "Maybe they just can't find the place... We are kinda in the middle of nowhere."

Malik held back another sigh and brought up his legs so that he could rest his elbows on his kneecaps. "How can you have so much faith, Ryou? So much belief?"

"Hey, cut it out." A third voice interrupted. Malik looked up and into Joey's face as the tall blonde sat with Yugi resting   
in his lap. "Great way to kill someone's hope, Malik. Let him keep on believin', if that's what's keepin' him going."

Ryou stared at Joey in suprise; he had almost forgotten he was there. He sighed. "Joey? Can I talk to you about something?"

Joey blinked slightly, then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Whatcha wanna talk about, Ry?"

"In... private...?" Ryou asked.

"Sure." Carefully, Joey untangled himself from Yugi and leaned him against the wall with a gentle touch. He followed Ryou awayfrom Malik and the others. "What's up, Ry?"

"Joey, remember what you said earlier? About... about the previous experiments, and... the person who died... the last survivor...?"

The blonde arched his eyebrow. "Yeah...?" His eyes darkened a moment later. "Wait, back up, Ry--"

"--Joey, I'm scared..."

* * *

1 - NOT intended for MokubaXSerenity. I just think she'd be the kind to give comfort to others. 

DON'T KILL ME! (runs off)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the plot, and I'm not even sure of that T.T


	9. Return to Damnation

Chapter Eight

I'm starting to dislike this story x.x It's so friggin' hard to write, and the muses (glares at them) are not being of any assistance. Damn things. No pocky for a month. Yes, that's right, muses - you heard me.

* * *

"Come on, Ry, don't think that--" 

"--but, Joey, listen - ever since the surgery things have been happening to me... weird things. I keep blacking out and having wierd dreams and blanking out when Malik talks to me. I'm scared, Joey... I don't want to die."

Joey looked at him seriously. "Listen, Ry. You can't let this affect you. You can't let anything Pegafuck does to you get to you. He's _trying_ to kill us: but we can't let him get away wit' that. Listen, I'm sure it's all just a mental thing - yanno, mind over matter. That kinda stuff."

"I wish I could be as optimistic as you, Joey. I wish I could so badly. I admire that in you."

Joey nodded. "You just keep your chin up, 'kay?" He smiled reassuringly. "Marik an' Bakura'll be here soon, and you'll be saved."

"What about you and everyone else?"

Joey gave him a smile and a thumbs up. "Eh, we'll find a way out. Don't you worry."

* * *

"How far away are we now?" Bakura asked as he and Marik sat to rest in an alleyway. "I want to find Ryou already. We've been travelling for days..." 

"I know," Marik said. "I think we're almost there. Once we get there, do you want to either break right in or sneak around?"

"What do you think?" Bakura retorted. "I want to break right in. I want Ryou back, and I want him back now."

"Patience, Bakura. _Patience_. Okay, we'll break in and break Ryou and Malik out... and then run, I guess?"

"No," Bakura corrected. "We kill Pegasus and all his men. I'm not about to let him get away with what he's done. He's hurt Ryou. And now he must pay."

"And what do you want to do about the others? Let 'em find their own way out?"

"We'll decide that once Ryou and Malik are safe."

Marik sighed. "Well, then let's start back up."

"Yeah."

"Don't worry, Bakura. We'll find 'em."

* * *

Serenity awoke in a haze; her body hurt everywhere and nowhere at the same time. As she slowly eased her eyes open, she thought she had gone blind--again--at the blankness that engulfed her vision, but soon her sight returned enough to allow her to sigh in relief. It took a few more moments before she was finally able to make out the patterns in the ceiling tiles. Slowly, she sat up; her head was pounding and all she wanted to do was lay back down and go to sleep, but somrething in the back of her mind registered as incorrect. She forced herself to sit up and look around. At first, nothing seemed incorrect - she still had all her body parts attatched and nothing seemed to be growing out of her back. But something still felt wrong. 

She looked at her hands; they seemed fine, but wait- why couldn't she move her fingers, and why did her skin look so... there was no other way to describe it... fused? The skin looked as if it had been melded together by hot wax, and it made it impossible for her to move her fingers. Serenity had to remind herself not to panic, that panicking would get her nowhere. It took many deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

Saddened hazel eyes gazed longingly at the door; oh how she wanted to run into her brother's arms and have him reassure her that in the end, everything would be okay. Serenity sighed and moved to lay down and wait to be taken back to the dungeons.

A soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

"...S...Serenity...?"

She looked over to the bed beside hers, and instantly remembered her promise. How long had Mokuba been awake?

"H-Hey, Mokuba... How do you feel?"

"Awful... My face and my whole body... I... I'm afraid to come out from under the blankets..."

Slowly she forced herself to stand, her thin frame dwarfed by the giant nightgown she had changed in to earlier. She placed a soft hand atop what looked to be Mokuba's shoulder. "I won't make fun of you. I promise."

There was a long pause of tense silence; Serenity could practically _feel_ the apprehension inside her very chest as she waited for Mokuba to come out form beneath the covers.

"I'm scared..."

"Don't be. You'll be fine, I promise," she reassured quietly, tightening her grip on his shoulder.

At length, Mokuba sat up underneath the covers and pulled them down, exposing his face. Serenity's first reaction was to gasp in shock, but luckily she reigned in her instincts and smiled sympathetically. "Hey, you look fine," she said after a moment.

"I don't feel fine..." he said shakily, reaching up to feel his skin. The kangaroo... His cheeks felt slightly more fuzzy than normal; his hands and arms looked as if he had been put underneath a tanning light and left there for a month. The natural hair on his arms had turned into the color of darkened sand. "W...what happened to me?!"

"Shh," Serenity whispered, holding up her hands. She still couldn't move her fingers, but she figured she would just have to get used to it if she wanted to make it out of this nightmare alive--and in one piece. "The same thing that happened to me... Listen, everything'll be okay. Trust me. Come on, let's get out of here and go back to the others..."

Mokuba shook his head and pulled the covers back up to try and hide his face from himself. "...I don't want anyone to see me..."

She held back a sigh, looking down as she thought of a way to reassure him. Finally, she looked up with a Joeyesque smile on her face. "Anyone says anything and I'll make sure they take it back." Serenity had to laugh quietly; some of Joey's personality had wore off on her after a while. "Come on... let's head back..." (1)

* * *

When they entered the dungeons fifteen minutes later, everything was quiet for a moment. Serenity looked around oddly, wondering why she didn't hear anyone. 

"SERENITY!" The silence was broken when Joey came rushing out of the cell in the very back; everyone had gathered there to have a discussion about how to break out without getting caught, and what they would do once they were free.

"Serenity... You okay? What happened? They didn't hurt you, did they? I'll kill 'em if they did!"

Serenity laughed softly at her brother's concern, but she tried to hide her hands just the same. "I'm fine, Joey, don't worry. They didn't hurt me at all."

Joey sighed in relief; he hadn't spoken that much during the group conversation purely out of worry for his sister. "Good... I was worried about you."

"I'm fine, I promise," she shook her head and smiled.

* * *

Pegasus sat in silent reflection inside his lavishly decorated office-room combination. So many unpredicted events had occured lately, that he was strongly considering abandoning The Changing for a while, perhaps picking it up with different, less rambunctious specimens. Although, this had proved to be a valuable education experience in personality classification... 

Joey, Duke, and Tristan, he decided, were the fighters of the group. They were always making blatant threats to Pegasus' person and testing their luck with authorities. 'Especially that damn blonde,' Pegasus thought with a slight narrowing of amber eyes. 'He's a mystery... One second he's smiling and being the most sweetest person of all, around that red-headed sister of his and his friends... And yet, he still has the guts to try and kill me.' That Egyptian boy, too - Malik. He was a fighter, though not as much as the three boys.

He pondered further about the semi-storylike roles of the experiments he had chosen. He figured he would probably rank that Mai girl as a fighter as well, alongside the three boys. Though she hadn't outwardly defied any authority--yet--Pegasus could sense a power from her that was unlike the impressions he got from Serenity and Ishizu. Her impression upon him was one of strength and independence. Pegasus' investigations also lead him to catagorize Serenity and Yugi as the 'support' of the group, as he had noted many times when the rest of the group would turn to them in times of hardship.

Tea and Ishizu would definetly be the voices of reason; for the most part, they always managed to keep their calm in rough situations and Pegasus could just sense the maturity from Ishizu and the kindess Tea possessed. Pegasus thought for another moment, and decided Ryou would also fit into this catagory.

Pegasus sighed, now bored with his personality classifications. He turned his thoughts over to the recent Changing of Mokuba and Serenity--oh, that reminded him. He hadn't classified Mokuba. Jaded honey eyes slid shut momentarily; he decided it wasn't worth his time. Suddenly his head snapped up.

"Nigiru! Croquet!" Pegasus called out sharply, the demonic grin returning to his insane eyes. "Come here quickly!"

The two guards appeared almost insantly at Pegasus' side, ready to take their orders. "Yes, sir?"

Pegasus stroked his chin. "Change of plans, my dears. We shall experiment on numbers 00001and 00011. They, along with number 00007 are the cause of much havoc and uneasiness in these corridors, it must not be allowed."

"But, Sir, weren't we going to--" Croquet started.

"Silence!" Ordered Pegasus, "We are going to experiment on numbers 00001 and 00011 tomorrow. That's final. Their spirits are to be broken, shattered, until they no longer feel the desire to fight back against us. I started this Animan project with high ideas in mind, men! I will not let my dream fade because a few young menaces to society feel like acting up!"

"...as you wish, Mr. Pegasus." Croquet said, looking to Nigiru. The two bowed somewhat hesitantly and left the room.

A dark chuckle filled the silence.

* * *

(1) - No, no, _no_. I don't like the MokubaXSerenity pairing. I'm using this scene to show that she acts as a source of support and strength for the other characters. Thanks. 

Oh... my... _god_...

I am seriously starting to_ hate_ this story. I didn't plot anything for this at all and this story is just _sucking_ so bad v.v Why do you people continue to read this piece of shit? (CoughsNotthatIdon'tappreciateitCoughs)

Right, well... I apologize for my horrible updating skills. Think of this chapter as a belated Christmas present to you all. x.x'' (Wanders off)

x Shori

**Disclaimer:** Okay, guys. Look at the name of this website - Shori-chan owns nothing. Shori-chan does not want to copy other people's ideas, but Shori-chan does not check anymore, so she doesn't know all of what kind of _fan_fiction is in the YuGiOh _fan_dom section. Nor does she know why she is reffering to herself in the third person. She bids you all a good day and a Happy New Years.


End file.
